BLUE HILL -- The Marine Environmental Research Institute (MERI) is sponsoring a community meeting to discuss the Callahan Mine Superfund Site on Monday, October 6, at 7:00pm at the Brooksville Community Center. MERI was recently selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as the holder of a Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) to facilitate community participation in decision-making regarding the Callahan Mine site. The purpose of the meeting on October 6 is to explain the TAG process, introduce the public to MERI staff and community representatives involved in overseeing the grant, and provide an opportunity for the public to offer input or ask questions. Representatives from the USEPA and Maine Department of Environmental Protection will also be present at the meeting to provide updated information on the status of the Callahan Mine site.

The USEPA Superfund Program awards one Technical Assistance Grant for community participation for each Superfund site on the National Priorities List (NPL). The bulk of the grant must be used to hire an independent technical advisor to help interpret data regarding the site and comment on site-related decisions. MERI has formed a Steering Committee made up of community residents, as well as representatives of organizations that represent a cross-section of community members, to advise and assist MERI on the Callahan Mine TAG process.

The Callahan Mine site, located in the village of Harborside in the town of Brooksville, was listed on the NPL as a Superfund site in September of 2002. The site is the former location of a zinc/copper open-pit mine, which ceased operations in 1972. According to the USEPA’s website, “no investigatory or cleanup progress [regarding Callahan Mine] has been made to date. Investigations to determine the nature and extent of the contamination at the site, the risks that it may pose to the public and the environment, and how to address potential risks may begin in 2004.”