United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region I
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

The Site is the location of a large former mill complex originally constructed in the early 1900s and most recently used by the Inter Royal Corporation to manufacture office furniture.  The Site is located at 20 Reservoir Street in Plainfield, Connecticut and described on page 421 of Deed Book 55.  The Site is bounded to the east by Reservoir Street, to the west by railroad tracks, to the south by a warehouse, and to the north by State Route 14A.

On April 26, 2005 a fire destroyed the three-story section of the mill, located on the northern portion of the property.  The single-story section of the mill, located on the southern portion of the property, was not affected by the fire.  Friable asbestos in pipe and boiler insulation and lead in ash and surface soils in the area of the fire-damaged, former three-story structure posed a direct contact threat to local residents and those who may enter the Site.  See polrep 1 for additional site background information.

The Emergency Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contractor completed the cleanup of asbestos in the vicinity of the former boiler room on October 20, 2005.  EPA and its contractors continue to remove and segregate wood, brick, metal, and other debris from the footprint of the former 3-story structure.  The waste streams of construction debris are being trucked and disposed of off-site by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP).  118 truckloads (2153 tons) of brick and 3 roll-off containers of scrap metal have been trucked off-site to date.  The Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contractor continues to document site activities and conduct air monitoring activities.

EPA and the CT DEP are conducting this removal action as a joint, multi-agency cleanup, under a Unified Command structure.

Removal activities will be confined to the northern portion of the Site, where the three-story section of the mill was located, and will include:

1) Continued removal of brick, wood, metal, and other building debris so that work crews can safely access the lead-contaminated ash and surface soils.  (Transportation and off-site disposal of the building debris waste streams will continue to be provided by CT DEP.);

2) Excavation of lead-contaminated ash and surface soils.

3) Off-site disposal of asbestos and lead-contaminated ash/soil at EPA-approved facilities;

4) Sampling and air monitoring as needed to support the above activities; and

5) Grading and backfilling as needed to secure the Site (Clean fill will be provided by the Town of Plainfield.).

The removal, staging, and disposal of the building debris will likely continue for the remainder of the construction season, weather permitting.