U.S. Water News Online
ORRINGTON, Maine -- A University of Maine professor testified in federal court that he and his family never swim or fish in the Penobscot River because of mercury contamination from a chemical plant near their home in Orrington.
Richard Judd, who lives within a half-mile downriver of the defunct plant, said his enjoyment of canoeing and bird-watching has diminished because of his awareness of the potential threats posed by years of mercury discharges. Judd said he still enjoys seeing the eagles that nest in the trees between his house and the plant swooping into the river to catch fish.
"It's certainly a magnificent sight," he said, "but you think what's going to happen if the eagle eats that fish."
Judd was the final witness for the plaintiffs in the trial of a lawsuit against Mallinckrodt Inc., a former owner of the plant that produced chlorine and other chemicals, primarily for use by the paper industry. The last owner, HoltraChem, ran the plant from 1993 to 2000, when it shut down the operation and later went out of business.
Judd is a member of the Maine People's Alliance and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt, the operator of the plant from 1967 to 1982. The environmental groups want the court to order more studies to determine the levels and risks of the mercury, and to require that the contamination be cleaned up, if warranted.
Judd said he first learned of the environmental threat from neighbors who attended his housewarming party after he moved to Maine about 15 years ago to teach history at the university. He said he chose a site along the water in hopes of re-creating the pleasures he remembered from his childhood, when he spent summers along a lake in Michigan.
But now, he said, he refuses to swim in the river and does not allow his daughter, now 11, even to wade in it. Judd said he no longer goes fishing because he would not dare to eat what he caught.
Judd said that if the lawsuit is successful and the contamination is removed, his daughter or his grandchildren might someday be able to visit his home and enjoy the kind of life along the water that he had anticipated.
Under brief cross-examination, Judd acknowledged that he has suffered no apparent health problems from living near the plant.
Following Judd's testimony, the defense moved for a judgment in its favor on grounds that the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of proof.
U.S. District Judge Gene Carter, who is trying the case without a jury, said he would set a briefing schedule on the motion.
Meanwhile, the defense -- which had presented one witness -- resumed its case. The trial is expected to conclude soon.
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