Maine news, sports, weather from Waterville Morning Sentinel

Officials might probe Winslow landslide

By Scott Monroe smonroe@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WINSLOW -- State environmental officials met with town representatives Tuesday to brainstorm ways of shoring up the Fort Hill Cemetery slope, part of which crumbled during a landslide earlier this year.

Also on Tuesday, state officials also warmed to the possibility of conducting their own investigation into the landslide's cause, town officials said.

"It would be nice to have a solution in hand; it is frustrating because it's a complex issue," Town Manager Mike Heavener said Wednesday. "So, it's going to take time to get resolved. The cost is a concern at this point."

Workers with FPL Energy Maine Hydro, owner of the former Fort Halifax Dam, noticed the landslide March 31. Since then, fallen soil and trees from the slope have created a small island in the Sebasticook River, but town officials say the slope hasn't noticeably gotten any worse.

When FPL removed the dam in the summer of 2008, the river's water level dropped and soil movement was detected on a nearby slope, off Dallaire Street. Under its dam-removal permit, FPL was required to "closely monitor the slope adjacent to the cemetery and promptly remediate any slumping or erosion" in order "to protect the Fort Hill Cemetery from irreparable harm."

The question of who will ultimately pay for stabilizing the slope is contentious.

FPL commissioned a study from Yarmouth-based engineer Craig Findlay that concluded the drawdown of water caused by the dam's removal "did not play a significant role" in the landslide. Rather, the event was probably triggered by other factors, the study said, including the slope's steep angle, unstable soil conditions, recent periods of heavy rain and a small earthquake that was recorded 41 miles away.

State experts and geotechnical engineers consulting for the town have reviewed the Findlay study and requested more data and explanation. But FPL officials have stood by the study's conclusions and have declined to do more research, saying they've done all they're required to do.

The town recently asked the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct its own study into the landslide's cause.

Heavener was joined at Tuesday's meeting by Councilors Paul Manson and Catherine Nadeau, Town Attorney Bill Lee and several DEP officials, including Andrew Fisk, director of the Maine Bureau of Land and Water Quality. FPL officials were invited to attend, but could not make it, Heavener said.

Among the ideas they discussed for stabilizing the slope, Heavener said, were installing rip-rap or other material on the slope, cutting back the upper portion of the slope, or "mass-altering" the flow of the river by cutting back a bank on the opposite side of the river.

Heavener said Dr. John Field, a fluvial geomorphologist, will soon provide the town with a list of options for stabilizing the slope; the DEP has offered to review any of those options on the town's behalf; and DEP officials have agreed to "revisit the factors that may have contributed to the landslide to determine if a more in-depth investigation is warranted."

"They will do this while giving strong consideration to the peer-review memo provided by the town's consulting geotechnical engineers," Heavener said. "The DEP will also allow further comment by those present on possible contributing factors."

On Wednesday, Steve Stengel, a spokesman for FPL, said, "We don't have anything to add to what we've already said."

Scott Monroe -- 861-9239

smonroe@centralmaine.com