[CPEO-BIF] Durham Meadows Superfund Site (CT)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

EPA Expects to Hold Public Hearing on Durham Meadows Superfund Site This 
Summer

By Denise Bellmore Steele
Middlefield Town Times (CT)
May 13, 2005

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Boston office has announced 
that it expects to finalize its "Remedial Investigation and Feasibility 
Study" of the Durham Meadows Superfund Site this summer. "EPA will 
present cleanup plans for the entire site and present these plans for 
public comment," states the April 2005 "Community Update" fact sheet. 
The update also tells of a new study being conducted this spring on the 
soil gas and indoor air quality of selected homes in the area. Further 
evaluation continues as well of the toxin, 1,4-Dioxane, which was 
identified last year in a number of private wells along the site as a 
result of new technology capable of detecting smaller amounts of the 
chemical than previously possible.

The fact sheet also includes some history about the site, noting that, 
"[i]n 1982 the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT 
DEP) detected volatile organic compounds (VOCs n commonly found in 
solvents, paints and degreasers) in private drinking water wells in the 
Durham area." The EPA's investigation has centered on sections of Main 
Street, including the plant site of Durham Manufacturing Company and the 
former location of Merriam Manufacturing Company, in addition to 
expanding 0.5 miles from the Coginchaug River to the west and bordering 
Allyn Brook to the south. It has been determined by the EPA that both 
companies contributed to the site's contamination as a result of 
"formerly accepted waste management practices" and "inadequate drum 
storage at Merriam." The EPA report further explains that 
"[s]ubsequently, limited soil cleanup activities were undertaken at both 
sites, however, the VOCs had already penetrated the bedrock aquifer, the 
source of domestic well water. Under a CT DEP order, Merriam 
Manufacturing and Durham Manufacturing installed carbon filters on 
impacted residential wells."

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.towntimes.com/articles/2005/05/12/news/local_news/news04.txt

--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org



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