OXFORD — Draining the main tank at the wastewater treatment plant at the Robinson Mill is set to begin in the coming weeks, according to Town Manager Michael Chammings.

Chammings told selectmen Thursday that the town will be pumping water from the 300,000 gallon tank, which has not been used since 2009. The project has been cleared by the Department of Environmental Protection, he said.

The main tank is filled mostly with storm water and is clean, he said. It will be pumped to the Little Androscoggin River.

Other tanks, which contain solids and sludge, will be emptied later and their contents trucked to another facility. The town plans to take down the steel tanks and sell them for scrap.

The facility-treated wastewater from the former woolen mill on King Street, the town office and some nearby homes.

Chammings is in negotiations with developer Chuck Starbird to sell the mill on the shore of Thompson Lake. He said Thursday that negotiations are ongoing.

“It’s a big, old mill with a bunch of big, old issues,” he said. There are issues with utilities, the sidewalk right of way and other topics that are still under discussion.

Chammings said work to remove the tanks began long before the town set out to sell the mill. The main concern was the environmental risks of the tanks full of effluent from the mill.

A study by engineering firm Woodard and Curran found that fixing the old treatment plant for the town’s use would cost as much as building a new plant.

Oxford foreclosed on the 7.5-acre property in 2009 due to nonpayment of $244,920 in taxes by owner John C. Robinson. Selling the property, which includes the three-story brick mill, the treatment plant and other buildings, is a chance for the town to recoup some of the taxes.

The 1840 mill employed hundreds of workers in its heyday. It was purchased by John Robinson in 1849 and remained in the family until the town took possession.

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