BROOKSVILLE (AP) – A federal estimate of the potential Superfund cleanup cost at the former Callahan mine ranges as high as $25 million or more.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency project manager Ed Hathaway updated local residents last week and said major uncertainties remain to be resolved.

“We’ve got a site that is 150 acres with about 100 of it developed,” Hathaway said.

“The cleanup could run between $8 million and $25 million depending on what we find here,” Hathaway said. “If we have to remove sediment, it could be double that.”

According to Hathaway, the most recent study confirms earlier findings – levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc that could pose a risk to human health.

He said that it does not appear that occasional exposure to those elements would be harmful to humans.

“We’re looking at long-term exposures,” he said. “The initial data indicates that occasional visits are not a problem. If you live on the site, there could be adverse health consequences. We’re looking at that crossover point to those levels to determine at what level of exposure they are likely to become a threat to human health.”

A remedial investigation program is now in its second year, although the EPA had conducted previous studies in 2004.

The study phase of the project already has cost about $2.25 million, according to project manager Dwight Doughty of the Maine Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the onsite investigation in cooperation with the EPA.

The study will likely continue for at least one more year and possibly into 2008, Hathaway said. The EPA would then make a cleanup decision and, if necessary, design a cleanup project.

Depending on the scope of the cleanup, that process could take several years, so cleanup probably would not begin until 2011 at the earliest, according to the Bangor Daily News.

A round of groundwater testing is anticipated this fall.

The Callahan mine ceased operations in 1972. The EPA added the site to the federal Superfund list in 2002.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-07-09-06 1347EDT