A stretch of cold weather last month prevented the developer of the landslide-prone shopping plaza property along Route 65 in Kilbuck from meeting state deadlines for installing slope and groundwater monitors.
According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, Kilbuck Properties has requested an extension to do the work now that the weather has warmed.
The department is reviewing that request.
"We recognize that the extreme cold precluded the developer from moving forward with the necessary drilling. To do so under those conditions would have destroyed their equipment and set them back further," said Helen Humphreys, a DEP spokeswoman.
"But our focus now is to ensure they are moving forward again."
The missed deadlines -- on Feb. 19 to install the groundwater monitors and Feb. 26 to install monitors measuring slope movement -- were set in a Jan. 17 DEP order aimed at stabilizing the 75-acre former Dixmont State Hospital property.
A Sept. 19 landslide on the site of the $28 million, Wal-Mart-anchored River Pointe shopping plaza development dumped 500,000 cubic yards of soil, rock and debris onto Route 65, closing the heavily used road for two weeks.
The DEP order also assessed civil penalties totaling $470,000 against the developer for missing earlier reporting deadlines. Kilbuck Properties has appealed the penalty.
A permanent stabilization plan that meets state standards must be submitted by April 19, and the work to stabilize the property is to be completed by Oct. 31.
Some sections of the sloping property continue to move at an average rate of 3 inches a week, according to the DEP, and in early February there was some "sloughing off" of dirt along the embankment above Route 65.
"We still cannot say with certainty that the site is stable," Ms. Humphreys said. "That's why development of the site stability plan is essential."
John Atwood, president of Kilbuck Properties, did not return calls seeking comment.
First Published: March 1, 2007, 5:00 a.m.