An asbestos-filled dumping ground from the days of power plant Mason Station in Wiscasset will, when covered, become nice — walkable and mowable, project participants said April 16. Federal and state environmental officials and others including Town Manager Dennis Simmons, Economic Development Director Aaron Chrostowsky and developer Ryan Gahagan spoke over Zoom about the federally funded remediation project aimed at protecting people and the environment and getting the site fit for reuse.

Then it can become "hopefully ... something pretty spectacular," Simmons said. 

According to the Zoom-only discussion that sought public comment, a $700,000 grant Wiscasset won in July 2023 runs out in September 2027; the soil contamination is mostly asbestos; and the options, from removal, to a cover system, or doing nothing and keeping a fence around it, were each evaluated for their effectiveness at protecting human health and the environment, cost, resilience to climate change, and the ability to redevelop the site; the cover system won and, after public comment has closed, will go out to bid; work could start late summer or so and potentially be finished as early as next winter or spring.

Asked if recent actions on federal agencies' funding or staffing have jeopardized any aspect of the Wiscasset project, Elise Simons of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Boston office said no. "We've been given the green light on this ... Things can change any day, but I am expecting this to go right ahead (and) we're expecting this (North Point fill area) to be cleaned up very soon, in the coming year, so no. I'm not expecting any interruptions of that kind."

Jaime Madore of Cumberland-based Sevee & Maher Engineers said the project would stabilize the shoreline and include "some clearing (and) some minor site regrading (and) a marker layer and 12 inches of a structural gravel (or clean fill), loamed and seeded, placed over the entirety of that area."

Gahagan noted he has an option to buy Mason Station LLC, owner of a site that abuts the planned cleanup site. He asked about the clearing Madore referred to. Madore said the project would follow town rules on trees' size and removal. "We would be working within those, with the town, to make sure that we only clear what we need to to achieve the remediation goals. It's no one's intent to clear-cut this thing and leave nothing and just a ... shoreline with no trees in it," Madore said.

"Right ... It's nice to confirm it," Gahagan said. He also asked if the area, once it is covered, can be walked on. "Yeah, 100%. Once that cover system is down, it effectively mitigates the risk to humans and exposure to the contaminated soil ... You can walk on it, you can mow it, you can enjoy it." Any excavation or other disturbance for development would need "jump(ing) through some (environmental) hoops," she said.

Public comment on the proposed cleanup project closes May 5, according to the public notice for last week's meeting.