How 9,400 tons of sand is being used to combat industrial pollution in a Penobscot River cove

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 28, 2026

The lower Penobscot River is seeing a flurry of activity this week reminiscent of its industrial past as large barges laden with beeping, humming heavy equipment float just offshore of Orrington’s Picnic Park. But this work is different – spraying about 9,400 tons of clean sand to cap about six acres of intertidal flats, covering toxic mercury sediment in a cove long contaminated by discharges from the former Holtrachem plant. If successful at reducing exposure in the estuary, the method could be repeated over 124 more acres in Orrington and North Bucksport in the coming years.