They are found in nearly every corner of Maine - hazardous waste sites that threaten the air, water and health of residents.
Some are the unfortunate byproduct of industries that keep Maine's economy churning. Many are simply legacies of a time, not many decades ago, when there were no laws or state agencies in place to protect the environment.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent cleaning up hazardous waste in recent decades. But state officials acknowledge that there is not enough money to address all of the polluted sites.
"Since 1983, the state has spent a little over $21 million from bond issues and General Fund appropriations to clean up hazardous waste sites around the state," said Mark Hyland, director of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management.
"And we're out of bond money. We have a zero balance right now and that has never happened before," he said.
Hyland said there have been considerable successes, such as the ongoing cleanup of the Eastern Woolen Superfund site in Corinna and the current redevelopment of the Eastern Fine Paper Co. site in Brewer as a Cianbro Corp. facility.
As Earth Day 2008 approaches, the Bangor Daily News takes another look at how much cleanup has been completed at five high-profile industrial contamination sites and how much work is left undone.
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