An agreement between the Town of Chestertown and UM Shore Health was recently negotiated to protect the town against the possibility of contaminants migrating from the old oil spill on the Hospital premises to the town’s drinking water wells. The agreement includes a promise to indemnify the Town if such a contamination occur.
Here is Mayor Carino’s statement about the agreement and a pdf of the agreement.
From Mayor Cerino:
“This agreement, negotiated voluntarily and in good faith by the Town of Chestertown and the Hospital, is the first step in developing a collaborative partnership between these entities to take additional precautionary measures to protect the water supply of Chestertown from a heating oil spill that took place nearly three decades ago. Key elements of the agreement include the addition of three more sentinel wells to monitor for contaminants after any close-out at the site, three years of testing after any close-out to ensure that any contaminants left in the ground aren’t migrating towards the Town’s wells, and the Hospital’s promise to indemnify the Town in the event of a worst-case scenario resulting from the spill or its remediation. I commend the leadership at the Hospital for working with us to provide additional assurances to the Town, and look forward to developing a positive working relationship on this important health issue.
I would like to add that this is a pre-emptive agreement. To date, no contaminants from this spill have reached our well-field. It is the Town’s hope that the Maryland Department of the Environment, the regulatory agency overseeing the clean-up of the site, will work with the Hospital to implement a thorough and comprehensive remediation that will ultimately eliminate this threat to the Town’s water supply.”
Stephan Sonn says
Any promise is better than none. The contaminants threat is still ongoing,
so running down the clock is an eliminated option for the current owner at least.