On May 6, 2012 three friends of Penobscot Bay, later joined by a fourth, went core sampling Stockton Harbor's intertidal flats near the GAC Chemical facility. Follow the photo sequence for a summary of the expedition and its results.

Results: the silvery colored alum-tainted intertidal mud zone found in 1998 is still there. Cores were taken with one inch pvc pipe twelve inches into the mud and the captured material pressed out of the pipe onto a viewing area. Sites cored showed a significant amount of alum tainted soil surrounded by relatively "clean" mud.Two probes struck apparent buried tarpape or other soft debris. In late afternoon squirting clams were evident a short distance south along the shore. Clams were nearly all at edge of mudflat/sand beach interface. Few if any clams squirting in the pure mud or pure sand. Periwinkles were common on stones lying in the areas of "clean" mud.

It was also noted that at least two areas of alum waste-filled shoreline deposits continue to erode uncovered onto the beach and into the mudflats in the harbor. This will continue to keep the mud tainted until the eroding locations are revegetated.

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