HOPE, Maine — Town residents rejected Monday night taking ownership of the former Union Chemical plant which was once a Superfund site.
The vote was 33 to 28 against a warrant article at the annual town meeting that would have given selectmen the authority to take ownership of the approximately 12 acres on Route 17.
Resident Richard Crabtree led the opposition, expressing concern about the potential liability to the town from environmental problems at the site. He said the town does not need any more control on this land than it would on any other privately owned land and that there is zoning to regulate development.
Brian Powers, chairman of the Hope Board of Selectmen, had argued it was time for the town to take action.
“It has been half time for nine years and now it’s the second half and it’s time to move the ball,” Powers said.
Powers said he grew up next to the Union Chemical property and in 1978 was one of the first people to understand that something was going wrong at the plant. Powers said the stream turned gray and everything in it was dead.
He said that the vote by the town would not automatically mean selectmen would follow through and acquire the deed to the land. Powers said the board would only accept the land if it was in the best long-term interest of the town.
Town officials said that the town would have more control over the land along Route 17 if it took ownership.
The property is under receivership by the state court and has been since 1986. State officials at the meeting said that it had been working with the town for years on Hope acquiring with the land so the next step is uncertain. Town officials said if the town rejects it, the state will sell it to the highest bidder and the town will not have control over its development.
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 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 to clean the soils and try to clean the groundwater on the property. The soil is clean but the water is still not fit to drink.