For nearly a decade, the site of the old HoltraChem chemical plant in Orrington, Maine has been leaking mercury and other toxic chemicals into the Penobscot River, the surrounding groundwater, and the soil nearby. Mallinckrodt, the pharmaceutical company now responsible for the site, was ordered to clean it up years ago.

Instead, according to a new lawsuit filed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the company has spent years slowing down or avoiding the work altogether. Progress "began to slow down as early as 2018," when Mallinckrodt first sought relief from its cleanup obligations, and "since 2023, Mallinckrodt has ceased any meaningful progress toward remediation at the site," according to the Maine DEP. Two separate notices of violation, issued in March and October of 2025, weren't enough to get the company back on track.

The Penobscot River isn't just a waterway. It's a source of fish, recreation, and drinking water for communities along its banks, and mercury contamination doesn't stay contained to one site. Every year of delay gives toxic chemicals more time to spread through groundwater and soil.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Governor of Maine have the power to demand real deadlines and real consequences, not just more notices of violation. Mallinckrodt has had eight years since 2018 to make progress. That's long enough.

Sign the petition to demand Mallinckrodt finish the Orrington cleanup now, before more of the Penobscot is put at risk.