WILTON — The asbestos cleanup at the Forster Mill site is finally nearing completion.

After starting work last week, an Abatement Professionals crew is nearly through 70 percent of the site, owner Richard Rickett said. A DEP inspection of the worst area is expected Friday, and he hopes to complete the work by next week.

Once the abatement work is completed, demolition and salvaging building materials can restart.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency met property owner Adam Mack’s representative last month after the owner failed to submit an asbestos removal plan by July 9.

Very specific guidelines were established giving Mack, operating under the company name Wilton Recycling LLC, one last chance to start remediation before the EPA began its own cleanup with a bill for costs sent to the owner, Samantha DePoy-Warren, spokeswoman for DEP, previously said.

Following those directives, Mack entered into a contract with Abatement Professionals of Westbrook, she said Tuesday. DEP reviewed the work plan they agreed upon and “believes it to be an appropriate abatement process for the protection of public and environmental health,” she said.

Demolition work halted last July after significant amounts of asbestos were found. Amounts that DEP staffers termed as “the worst asbestos site they’ve seen,” she said.

Abatement Professionals was hired in late August by Mack and contractor Ryan Byther of Down East Construction after the EPA was prepared to come do the work. Asbestos sites were sealed within the building and once some outside work was completed, abatement stopped, as the owner sought financing to finish the work. Last September, Rickett estimated in the range of $150,000 for cleanup.

Rickett said he came to an agreement with Mack last month and came back because he “felt it was the right thing to do.” He said he believes Mack will use the salvaged materials to one day pay for his work as promised.

He feels bad for the people in Wilton and also feels Mack is taking the brunt of the problems for the person who caused this issue, he said. 

The contractor was not licensed or certified to engage in asbestos abatement.

Instead of containing the asbestos wrapped around piping, the asbestos was cut through with knifes to reach the pipe and the asbestos material dropped and left where it sat, Rickett said.

“It’s the worst site I’ve seen,” said Ricketts, who has been in the business since 1981.

Public safety was not at risk, even though the material was left as it was. Because the roof was not solid, there was so much moisture and rain it kept the materials wet and confined where they were, he said.

His company did air samples and found no exposure before starting work last August. 

Some asbestos was found in a pile of materials left in a parking area across the street. Rickett’s crew took some from the outside of the pile last year; the rest is deep within the pile. That asbestos will be removed next week.

Asbestos piping in the boiler house will be left for another phase of the project. It wasn’t touched, and there are no real concerns as long as it’s left alone, he said.

It appears “there will be a happy ending to the story,” Rickett said.

“DEP will continue to regularly check in at the site to ensure adequate progress, but from what we’ve seen over the last two weeks, we think things are finally on the right track,” DePoy-Warren said. “Given the long history here, we won’t celebrate until the cleanup is complete.”

DEP promised the people of Wilton that the site would be properly remediated. It’s taken time, assistance and enforcement efforts, but the site owner is finally delivering, she said.

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