(Lamoine)—The town recently completed water tests on four residential wells near the old landfill, and the results were consistent with testing from the past several years. Additionally, wells installed by the Department of Environmental Protection around the perimeter of the landfill were tested again, and no red flags were raised from the results.
A change in testing parameters for arsenic caused a minor panic. The state health testing laboratory changed its results from reading parts per million to parts per billion, which would show 1,000 time more arsenic than before. When the figures were adjusted, the very low levels of arsenic in some water samples were consistent with past years tests.
The town tests the wells once per year in the spring, and tests costs approximately $4,600 a year.