The Site is located in a mixed residential and commercial area near the town center at 336 West Main Street, Tilton, New Hampshire. The 1.94 acre site is identified as Parcels U06-03-00 and U06-04-00 by the Town of Tilton Tax Assessor. The town is 20 miles north of Concord and encompasses an area that approaches 12 square miles. Its population is approximately 3,477 with a population density of 308 inhabitants per square mile.
From 1995 to 1999, Town contractors conducted environmental assessments and demolished the mill building leaving demolition debris at the Site. The investigations found containerized waste, asbestos containing materials (ACMs), storage tanks, and a transformer presumed to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); the town removed all of these from the property prior to demolition. In 1999, the town authorized the local fire district to burn the remaining demolition debris. In 2001, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) conducted a Brownfields assessment to characterize the environmental conditions at the Site. The investigation found ash remaining from the fire, and soil mixed with ash containing lead and barium in concentrations that make it a hazardous material. In addition, the assessment located a 20,000 gallon underground storage tank (UST) in the eastern portion of the property. The manway to the UST is visible from the surface and the tank appears to be partially filled with sand. This inactive Site is currently owned by the town of Tilton.
On 5 and 6 November of 2003, the EPA OSC and EPA contractors conducted a Removal Program Preliminary Assessment/Site Investigation (PA/SI).
The key finding is lead and barium contaminated surface and subsurface soil due primarily to the burning of demolition debris. The contaminants of concern and their maximum concentrations are lead (up to 6,800ppm) and barium (up to 5,520ppm).
The Removal Evaluation was concluded and based on the PA/SI findings and a file review, the OSC recommended a time critical removal action in a February 27, 2004 closure memorandum.