State, Maine Yankee agree on compensation

[jpak]

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/coast/070121meyankee.html

Midcoast Maine will get an expanded nature preserve, a restored salt marsh and several other conservation projects under a proposed $930,000 agreement between the state and Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. that closes the books on state environmental violations at the former nuclear plant in Wiscasset.

Four state agencies and Maine Yankee officials negotiated for a year to reach the tentative settlement, which compensates for damages the plant caused to groundwater supplies during its 24 years of operation. Maine Yankee fired up in 1972 and stopped producing electricity in December 1996.

Though the state will continue to monitor groundwater wells for the next 30 years, officials from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection said the agreement puts to rest any environmental issues related to non-radiological contamination on the property, at Bailey Point in Wiscasset. Most of the contamination was caused by oil spills and solvents.

"Overall, I think it's a good deal for the state of Maine and an excellent natural resources initiative," DEP Commissioner David Littell said Friday.

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