ORRINGTON — The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a second violation notice to the owners of a former chemical manufacturing plant in Orrington.

The notice was issued to Mallinckrodt US LLC/Medtronic, the most recent owners of the former site of the HoltraChem factory. According to the DEP, the plant operated under several owners from 1967 through 2000.

The DEP sent the first notice in March, 2025.

According to the DEP, historic operations at the site resulted in a “significant amount of contamination to the surrounding soils, groundwaters and neighboring river,” the Penobscot River. Contaminants include mercury and chloropicrin.

The DEP said it has pursued cleanup at the site since 2008.

According to the DEP, “remedial activities” began in 2014.

“Mallinckrodt has replaced several feet of contaminated soil with clean soil across the Site and has installed extraction wells to make sure no mercury in groundwater leaves the Site,” an August 18 letter sent to the DEP from Mallinckrodt’s legal team reads, in part. “As result, the Site no longer presents any of the danger to human health or the environment that the Site was first identified to remedy.”

However, the DEP alleged that there has been a lack of meaningful progress in its first notice of violation.

“The Department disagrees with Mallinckrodt’s assertion that contamination remaining at the site no longer poses a danger to public health and that further remediation in accordance with the department orders is unnecessary,” the Oct. 20 notice of violation from the DEP reads, in part. “The department offers technical assistance which may assist you in returning to compliance and avoiding further enforcement action.”

Spectrum News has reached out to the site owners for comment.