HOPE, Maine — Residents may decide in June whether they want the town to acquire a 12-acre lot that had been the site of one of the worst environmental pollution cases in the state.
The Board of Selectmen asked the town administration Wednesday night to come up with a draft warrant article for the June 15 town meeting. The board is expected to vote at its April 14 meeting to formally place the matter on that town meeting warrant, Town Administrator Jon Duke said Thursday.
If voters approve the article, the town would petition the state court system to turn the property over to the town. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has had the property in receivership for more than 30 years.
The property on Route 17 was the site of the Union Chemical plant, which handled paint stripper and petrochemical-based solvents. Union Chemical operated at the site from 1967 until the state shut it down in 1984.
When it the plant was closed, there were 2,000 drums and 30 storage tanks of hazardous wastes on site. Also, the soils and groundwater in the area were found to have been contaminated from improper handling of drums, spills and use of the septic system as part of the waste process.
Since 1984, more than $20 million has been spent trying to clean the soils and groundwater on the property.
Duke said the town has proceeded cautiously to make sure Hope would not be liable for any cleanup if it acquires the property. Those assurances have repeatedly been given, the town administrator said.
If the town acquires the property, then a decision will have to be made about what to do with it.
“In my nine years, I have heard hundreds of ideas,” Duke said.
Those ideas have included creating a town forest with trails, a park, an industrial park or even selling it for residential development.
There will be covenants on the land, according to the town administrator. All of the covenants are common sense ones, he said, including a requirement of a vapor barrier for any foundation built on the land. The new owner also will have to allow the Department of Environmental Protection to take water samples from 20 test wells remaining on the site.
A public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. May 26 at the Hope Elementary School to allow public comment on the proposal to acquire the land.