Project covering Penobscot River mercury contamination with sand to begin this week

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 25, 2026

A pilot project beginning in Orrington this week will spray about 9,400 tons of sand over the Penobscot River estuary, testing a method that could eventually cover 124 more acres of tidal flats contaminated with mercury decades ago. The contamination stemmed from the now-defunct HoltraChem plant in Orrington, which illegally discharged between 6 and 12 tons of the toxic metal in the river in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Lingering mercury has led to a shellfish harvesting closure and consumption advisories for fish and some game. The metal travels up the food chain and has a range of toxic consequences for people and wildlife that ingest it.