The company that owns the Old Town pulp mill will pay the town just over $100,000 to settle violations tied to a chemical spill into the Penobscot River, according to a pending agreement.
Over several days in 2020 and 2021, roughly 30,000 gallons of diluted sodium hydroxide were spilled at the Old Town mill. The chemicals flowed through a compromised floor drain and then entered the ground and groundwater, making its way into the Penobscot river.
In 2022, a spill of the same chemical was observed at the mill. The company estimates that over 30 days, roughly 1,000 gallons were spilled.
Old Town will be compensated by the Illinois-based ND Paper, according to the pending agreement.
The town will put the money toward a $450,000 culvert replacement project.
