RUMFORD – Interim Town Manager Len Greaney said Monday that a plan will be in place outlining corrective action that will assure that snow and its contents aren’t dumped into the Androscoggin River.

The plan in required by the Department of Environmental Protection, along with a $5,500 fine the town was assessed for violating its water pollution control permit.

The incidents occurred during the winters of 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 and involved improper snow disposal, according to a consent agreement issued by the DEP.

In that four-page document, then Town Manager Jim Doar agreed to have the town pay the fine, which was done on June 30, and to have a plan in place for the proper disposal of snow during the coming winter. The written plan is due by Oct. 1.

John Glowa, an enforcement agent with the DEP who visited the Rumford snow dumping sites several times and drafted the consent agreement, said violations included dumping into a section of the canal, exceeding limits of the town’s Rumford Avenue snow dump, using a site on private property in Mexico that flows into a tributary of the Androscoggin River, as well as draining into a ground water supply.

Public Works Director Andy Russell will assist in developing the plan. He said he did not realize that it wasn’t legal to dump snow in the canal and other places because the snow came from the downtown area and did not include sand, only salt.

“I didn’t think we were contributing to pollution,” he said.

“I can commit that we will come up with a plan to dump snow legally. We will execute a plan to stay within the law. We really need a plan so we don’t impose on Mexico,” Greaney said.

He said the first he had heard about the snow dumping violation was last week.

“Basically, our slate was wiped clean by payment of the fine. We had a problem and Jim Doar owned up to the problem and paid the penalty and committed to a plan so not to do it again,” Greaney said.

The money for the fine was taken from the contingency fund.

Glowa said he will review the town’s plan and call in DEP engineers, if necessary.

The Board of Environmental Protection and Attorney General’s Office will take action to approve the consent agreement at a meeting set for Aug. 21 in Augusta.