Maine environmental officials have warned residents against fishing in a popular local river after tests revealed contamination linked to an abandoned mill awaiting cleanup.
In an advisory issued October 17, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told Windham residents not to eat fish caught in the Presumpscot River downstream from the Keddy Mill site.
Located near Depot Street along the Presumpscot River, the Keddy Mill site is an abandoned industrial complex that produced steel products during the 1960s. The property covers nearly seven acres.
The Presumpscot Regional Land trust says the river is a major recreational destination for the region. “For the nearly 25 percent of Mainers living in the greater Portland region, the Presumpscot has become a favorite recreational playground for paddling, swimming, fishing, and shoreline hiking and snowshoeing.”
A fact sheet shared in a Town of Windham EPA advisory post on Facebook said recent testing detected elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. These toxic chemicals can accumulate in fish tissue.
The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued seafood consumption guidance in August advising residents to “consume no more than four meals per year of any fish species” from the Presumpscot River in the Westbrook and Falmouth areas.
The EPA says PCBs have been linked to a range of serious health effects in humans and animals.
“PCBs are one of the most widely studied environmental contaminants. Many studies in animals and human populations have been performed to assess the potential carcinogenicity of PCBs,” the agency states on its website.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an advisory October 17 warning Windham residents not to eat fish caught in the Presumpscot River (pictured) downstream from the Keddy Mill site.
The Keddy Mill site (pictured) is an abandoned complex that manufactured steel products during the 1960s. It covers nearly seven acres near Depot Street along the Presumpscot River.
Recent testing detailed in a Town of Windham EPA advisory found elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, toxic chemicals that can accumulate in fish tissue.
The fishing warning has prompted concern among Maine residents living near Keddy Mill, who are questioning how the pollution could affect their health.
“Now tell me all the elderly/handicapped in that apartment complex who live & breathe that right next door daily are safe?” one commenter wrote in a Facebook post.
Another commenter asked: “That was discussed when I was on the council, why did they wait so long to warn the public?”
According to the Portland Press Herald, investigators have found fuel oil in a stormwater tunnel, petroleum in the soil and PCB-contaminated fluid spilled inside the building from aging electrical equipment.
“During the 1960s and early 1970s, manufacturing included flanges and fire suppression materials. It was during this period that significant disposal of hazardous substances, including PCBs, may have occurred at the Site,” the EPA says.
The National Priorities List, a federal program that identifies and investigates hazardous waste locations, designated Keddy Mill as a Superfund site in 2014.
David Tobin, 82, a former Windham town councilor and state legislator, previously told the Portland Press Herald that he was willing to wait for the Keddy Mill cleanup.
“That mill has been a black mark on our neighborhood. If we can get this straightened out, it would be a good thing for us,” Tobin told the newspaper when the site was initially added to the Superfund list.
The Presumpscot River Land trust says the waterway is a popular destination for the nearly 25% of Mainers living in the greater Portland region, who use it for paddling, swimming, fishing, shoreline hiking and snowshoeing.
Officials reported the fishing advisory at Presumpscot River has been expected to stay in place until the polluted materials are completely removed from the site to ‘protect public health and wildlife’
He told the outlet he has lived near the mill nearly all his life and even had a great-grandfather who was a foreman on the crew who built it.
‘I don’t think anyone who lives in Windham wants to have their town listed on a Superfund site because it conjures up this image of a huge, industrial wasteland,’ Tony Plante, former town manager of Windham, told the outlet.
Almost ten years later, the EPA has proposed a plan to clean up the polluted site for an estimated $17 million and over a four-year period.
EPA officials announced in February 2026 the project will be completed in multiple phases beginning in early 2027.
‘The Site will be cleaned up in multiple phases. The first phase includes demolition and removal of the building, with the potential exception of the westernmost wall, under a Non-Time-Critical Removal Action,’ the EPA wrote on their website.
Officials reported the fishing advisory at Presumpscot River has been expected to stay in place until the polluted materials are completely removed from the site to ‘protect public health and wildlife.’
The Town of Windham wrote in a Facebook statement that they ‘have no official timeline.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to Robert Burns, the Windham Town Manager, the Town of Windham Council office, the Presumpscot Regional Land Trust, and Senator Tim Nangle for comments.