AUBURN – Asbestos, PCBs, cyanide, heavy metals and industrial solvents are polluting land near Farwell Mill in Lisbon, according to a lawsuit filed in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
Some of the land backs up to the Sabattus River.
The suit, filed on behalf of Farwell Mill owner Miller Industries, calls for American Biltrite and the Finance Authority of Maine to help pay to clean up the industrial waste. It also seeks payment to offset Miller’s cost for engineering studies and other work relating to the pollution and damages.
The land was used as a dump by successive mill owners dating back to 1872, according to the suit, filed late last month.
The action claims that when the mill was operated years ago under the Bonafide name it manufactured linoleum that contained asbestos. The mill also relied on power routed through transformers that contained PCBs, a suspected carcinogen.
American Biltrite Rubber, an American Biltrite subsidiary, later continued making products containing asbestos and using materials in the process that contained other pollutants, the suit charges. Many of those pollutants made their way into the mill’s landfill on Upland Road lots near the Sabattus River.
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection documented the presence of the pollutants and issued a notice of liability for alleged environmental contamination to Miller in April 2001.
The DEP estimated that three acres of Miller land and another acre on abutting property had been part of the Farwell/Bonafide/American Biltrite dump site.
Kevin Beal, Miller Industries’ lawyer, said his client contends that the DEP has the wrong party in terms of financial liability for the cleanup. He said the lawsuit essentially “seeks to rectify that.”
Cleaning the property will cost a substantial sum of money, Beal said.
He said Miller and American Biltrite had discussed the environmental problems but hadn’t reached any agreement regarding responsibilities.
For now, he said, the area has been secured and there’s no threat of the pollution spreading. Miller is cooperating with the governmental agencies monitoring the site.
Miller Industries bought the property in 1968, according to Beal. Miller contends that neither American Biltrite nor a state industrial financing agency that preceded FAME’s establishment told it about the presence of hazardous materials when the property was changing hands.
Beal said FAME’s role is peripheral, but that its predecessor had held ownership for a short time and was also responsible for a share of the cost of cleaning the site.
David Amidon of Boston is representing American Biltrite, which is headquartered in Wellesley, Mass., and incorporated in Delaware. He wasn’t in his office Wednesday afternoon and couldn’t be reached for comment.
Anne Haskell, FAME’s communications manager, said its lawyers are looking into the lawsuit.
“We know nothing more than what the complaint alleges,” she said.
Its attorneys are gathering information but, she added, they’re hindered by a lack of existing documentation. She said there may be some material in state archives that would shed light on the state’s role in the property sale.
FAME and American Biltrite have until Oct. 17 to file responses to the suit.
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