MAINE, USA — A 20-year-long lawsuit over pollution in the Penobscot River finally came to a close this week, thanks to an ongoing effort from the Maine People's Alliance and the National Resources Defense Council.
Mallinckrodt, a company that once owned a chemical plant in Orrington, will pay at least $187 million and up to $267 million to clean up the Penobscot River.
For about 30 years, the company, which made chlorine bleach for Maine's paper mills, released 6 to 12 tons of mercury into the Penobscot River.
The settlement reached Tuesday involves Mallinckrodt paying millions of dollars to independent trusts that will be used to clean up and restore parts of the river and estuary.
After about a decade of testing of the river, results showed several species in the river contained high levels of mercury, like lobsters, black ducks, eels, and marsh songbirds. If people consumed these species, they would be at risk of a variety of negative health impacts.
Jesse Graham, co-director of the Maine People's Alliance, said he's been part of this fight since the beginning.
"They fought every step of the way, and I think if we had not been -- you know, I started working at Maine People's Alliance in 1999, so it's been 23 years that we've been doing this -- so I think if we hadn't been here constantly, doggedly going after this and paying attention to it that, you know, it's very easy to see that they could've just gotten away with this, closed that plant and left, and no one would know about it," Graham said.
Graham added once the cleanup is complete, which he said will likely take several years, the river will continue to be monitored and tested for the next 50 years. He expects work to start at some point over the next year.