Maine residents warned not to fish in local river over fears it is being contaminated by old mill that’s being cleaned up
Maine residents have been warned not to fish in a popular local river after environmental officials reported contaminated water from an old mill in need of cleaning.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent out an advisory on October 17 warning Windham residents to not eat any fish caught from Presumpscot River that flows downstream from the Keddy Mill site building.
The Keddy Mill site is an abandoned mill complex that manufactured steel products in the 1960s and spans across almost seven acres of land near Depot Street along Presumpscot River.
According to the Presumpscot Regional Land trust, ‘for the nearly 25 percent of Mainers living in the greater Portland region, the Presumpscot has become a favorite recreational playground for paddling, swimming, fishing, and shoreline hiking and snowshoeing.’
In a town of Windham EPA advisory Facebook post, a fact sheet was shared with details about recent testing that found elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the water, which are toxic chemicals that can contaminate fish tissue.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a seafood consumption guideline in August, stating residents should ‘consume no more than four meals per year of any fish species,’ from the Presumpscot River in Westbrook and Falmouth areas.
According to the EPA, PCBs have been demonstrated to cause a number of serious health effects to humans and animals.
‘PCBs are one of the most widely studied environmental contaminants. Many studies in animals and human populations have been performed to assess the potential carcinogenicity of PCBs,’ the EPA wrote on their website.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent out an advisory on October 17 warning Windham residents to not eat any fish caught from Presumpscot River (pictured) that flows downstream from the Keddy Mill site building
The Keddy Mill site (pictured) is an abandoned mill complex that manufactured steel products in the 1960s and spans across almost 7 acres of land near Depot Street along Presumpscot River
In a town of Windham EPA advisory Facebook post, a fact sheet was shared with details about recent testing that found elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the water, which are toxic chemicals that can contaminate fish tissue
The fishing advisory announcement has since caused Maine residents who live near Keddy Mill to raise concerns about how the pollutants can impact their health.
‘Now tell me all the elderly/handicapped in that apartment complex who live & breathe that right next door daily are safe?,’ one commenter wrote in a Facebook post.
Another commenter wrote: ‘That was discussed when I was on the council, why did they wait so long to warn the public?’
According to Portland Press Herald, all throughout the Keddy Mill site, fuel oil was previously found in a stormwater tunnel, petroleum was found in the soil and fluid with PCBs was spilled inside the building from old electrical equipment.
‘During the 1960s and early 1970s, manufacturing included flanges and fire suppression materials. It was during this period that significant disposal of hazardous substances, including PCBs, may have occurred at the Site,’ according to the EPA website.
The National Priorities List, a federal program that locates and investigates hazardous waste sites, designated Keddy Mill as a Superfund site in 2014.
David Tobin, 82, a former town councilor and state legislator in Windham, previously told the Portland Press Herald that he did not mind waiting long for Keddy Mill to be cleaned up.
‘That mill has been a black mark on our neighborhood. If we can get this straightened out, it would be a good thing for us,’ Tobin told the outlet when the mill was originally named a Superfund site.
According to the Presumpscot River Land trust, ‘for the nearly 25% of Mainers living in the greater Portland region, the Presumpscot has become a favorite recreational playground for paddling, swimming, fishing, and shoreline hiking and snowshoeing’
Officials reported the fishing advisory at Presumpscot River has been expected to stay in place until the polluted materials are completely removed from the site to ‘protect public health and wildlife’
He told the outlet he has lived near the mill nearly all his life and even had a great-grandfather who was a foreman on the crew who built it.
‘I don’t think anyone who lives in Windham wants to have their town listed on a Superfund site because it conjures up this image of a huge, industrial wasteland,’ Tony Plante, former town manager of Windham, told the outlet.
Almost ten years later, the EPA has proposed a plan to clean up the polluted site for an estimated $17 million and over a four-year period.
EPA officials announced in February 2026 the project will be completed in multiple phases beginning in early 2027.
‘The Site will be cleaned up in multiple phases. The first phase includes demolition and removal of the building, with the potential exception of the westernmost wall, under a Non-Time-Critical Removal Action,’ the EPA wrote on their website.
Officials reported the fishing advisory at Presumpscot River has been expected to stay in place until the polluted materials are completely removed from the site to ‘protect public health and wildlife.’
The Town of Windham wrote in a Facebook statement that they ‘have no official timeline.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Robert Burns, the Windham Town Manager, the Town of Windham Council office, the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, and Senator Tim Nangle for comments.
