Dike opens floodgates to range of issues; Former dump threatens wells

While Machias residents debate the eventual form a bridge carrying traffic along Route 1 will take, another problem is simmering within a now‑closed landfill just off Broadway.

The old Machias landfill, closed in 1996, is a nearly three‑acre site that is now posing potential problems for both nearby residents as well as to the plan to replace the current dike over the Middle River. Test bores by the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) into the site have revealed the presence of both high levels of heavy metals and PFAS, the "forever chemicals" that are toxic to both people and the environment.

The presence of toxins is even more problematic because the cap preventing leachate from escaping the landfill is damaged, according to Ben Edwards, vice chair of both the Machias Select Board and the Upper Machias Bay Master Plan (UMBMP) Committee, the group that is reviewing ways to replace the dike. Although no one knows for sure, it's possible leachate from the landfill could be affecting drinking wells in the area and eventually contaminate water if flooding occurs.

"If I were a landowner there, I wouldn't be drinking that water," says Tora Johnson, co‑director of the sustainable prosperity initiative for the Sunrise County Economic Council, who is serving as director for the UMBMP. "Regardless of what happens to the dike -- the landfill needs to be addressed."

Machias Town Manager Sarah Craighead Dedmon says only one Machias business as well as a handful of private landowners, most in Marshfield, have drinking water wells in close enough proximity to merit testing. She is currently compiling a list of potentially affected wells.

The need to replace the dike has made residents even more aware of potential landfill leakage, as several of the proposed suggestions for dike replacement could flood land on the inland side of the bridge. The proposal to build a 120‑foot free‑standing span across the Middle River in particular could bring floodwaters to the very toe of the landfill, making leakage more probable.

A 2022 DOT analysis of several wells drilled at the dump showed that levels of several contaminants -- most notably cadmium, barium and manganese -- exceeded Maine safe drinking water standards. In addition, water from all the wells exceeded standards for PFAS.

"That's not great for these things to find their way into the ecosystem," says Dr. Jean MacRae, a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maine who specializes in ways to mitigate chemicals, and especially PFAS, in water. "I'd certainly be looking at my well if I lived there. And I always worry about fish and shellfish when it comes to contaminated water, because they're living in it all the time."

The question regarding possible contamination of private wells by the landfill had been raised previously, and testing by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had been requested. But, according to Matt Young, DEP's project manager for closed municipal landfills, the responsibility for the testing was transferred to DOT when it took over the dike‑replacement project and indicated it would deal with the landfill as well.

Since then, DOT has stepped back from the project, Young says, deferring to Machias' UMBMP process to move forward with dike replacement. "That puts us back as the primary entity to get these wells tested." Young says he would be in touch with Machias officials to pinpoint the private wells where testing is needed and would hope to complete testing by the end of the year.

Young says the consulting company working with the UMBMP, the city's private engineering consultant, TRC, has already submitted a plan on how to remediate the landfill site, a plan generally acceptable to DEP. In cases such as this where remediation is needed, Young says the state would provide 90% of the money needed, and work could probably be completed during 2026 to seal off the landfill.

At a recent meeting held in Machias to discuss dike replacement, several attendees talked about their fears of possible landfill leakage, especially during floods. One even questioned whether DOT had indeed placed its test wells on the correct site, saying he believed the majority of landfill trash had been moved elsewhere on the site and not where the wells had been drilled.

Yet another attendee, Marshfield Select Board Chair Wayde Carter, who lives in Marshfield and grew up on the Middle River, told others he always wondered about the safety of the landfill. He related trapping muskrats as a youngster and having to discard the skins collected near the landfill as the animals had strange‑looking tumors.

"It's kind of crazy. We always suspected it was the dump. It was gross skinning them out. We finally stopped trapping there," Carter said. "There's also stuff leaking out of the tires there [at the landfill]. Chemicals were buried there too."

Craighead Dedmon at the Machias Town Office agrees that more testing of the water in and around the landfill is needed. But she says she is cautiously optimistic that the problem can be solved. "We feel a sense of urgency with the landfill regardless of the dike. It plainly needs treatment. Even if nothing happens with the dike, we still need to mitigate what's happening at this landfill."