HARPSWELL

Harpswell’s efforts to maintain public access to the waterfront may meet with a new obstacle: contaminated soil.

In a special town meeting Nov. 5, Harpswell voters approved by secret ballot the purchase of .14 acres of waterfront property from Dain Allen, owner of Allen’s Seafood. Negotiated down from the assessed value of $92,000, voters allotted $85,000 from the unassigned fund balance for the purchase.

Harpswell Town Manager Kristi Eiane said a subsequent Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment on the property uncovered a complaint from a neighbor listed in the code enforcement file saying Allen had brought contaminated soil onto the property.

“It’s part of the due-diligence process,” Eiane said of the assessment. “It helps to establish a baseline so the new owner of the property knows what, if any, issues exist at the time of acquisition.”

Additionally, the historical use of the property as “a place where boat building and construction has taken place” has been known to have caused contamination at other sites in Maine, Eiane said.

The Board of Selectmen met Dec. 10 to amend the agreement for the property purchase, requiring that a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment be conducted. The cost for the new assessment, $7,000, is to be split between the town and Allen, who has agreed to reduce the parcel price by $3,500.

Eiane said the town has not discussed specific plans to develop the acquired land, but it has been suggested that it could be kept as a green space, or could serve as additional parking for the town’s abutting parcel, Lookout Point town landing.

“It would enhance the public access location point,” Eiane said. “Even if kept as green space, it will enhance the town’s parcel.”

The phase 2 assessment has been initiated and soil samples have been sent to a lab for examination. Petroleum has been suggested as one possible contaminant, Eiane said.

“The next step depends on the type and extent of the contamination,” she said, “and what the cost for cleanup could be.”

Maintaining public waterfront access has been an issue of increasing interest in Harpswell, which led to the formation of citizen group Cedar Beach/Cedar Island Supporters, seeking a public easement to waterfront property off private Cedar Beach Road.

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com