Date: Mon 30-Nov-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Batchelder-pollution-DEP

Full Text:

Grant Approved For Testing At Contaminated Batchelder Site

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The plan to clean up the former Charles Batchelder plant site took a big step

forward last week with the news that the town had been awarded a $30,000 grant

from the state.

The grant is not enough money to clean the contaminated property along Swamp

Road. However, the money will be used to conduct further tests to determine

the extent of the environmental damage.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal credited the work of Arthur Bogen of

Down-to-Earth, LLC of Milford for helping Newtown secure the funding. Mr Bogen

was hired last spring to identify the damage and come up with a re-use and

implementation strategy.

The long-range plan for the site is to find a buyer who is willing to

revitalize the area --someone who wants to work hard to see the project

through.

In order to sell the property, however, town and state officials need to know

just how bad the situation is. Mr Bogen calls it a remedial action plan.

The state's recently created Special Contaminated Properties Remediation and

Insurance Fund (SCPRIF) should help cover the cost of the testing. SCPRIF

funding, being given out for the first time, is designed to help

municipalities and businesses address site contamination problems and to

assist in the reuse of "brownfield" sites.

"We need to find out if the cost of the cleanup exceeds the value of the

land," Mr Bogen said.

Mr Rosenthal said the town will use the money to hire environmental companies

to test the fire pond and a metal filings storage area on the site of the

former aluminum smelting plant.

Mr Rosenthal said a handful of developers have stepped forward to express

interest in taking over the Batchelder site. He declined to name the potential

buyers, but said there have been some serious discussions.

Economics and environmental contamination shut down the site more than ten

years ago. The company filed bankruptcy in the late 1980s.

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) converged on the site two

months ago to begin evaluating the extent of the groundwater and soil damage.

The results have not yet come back, although Mr Bogen has been told that there

has definitely been some impact on the groundwater there.

According to town officials, the ten-acre site could be bringing in as much as

a million dollars in taxes annually. Instead, it has been costing the town

money since Batchelder closed its doors and filed for bankruptcy in 1987.

Batchelder is not listed as a Super-fund site, although its problems have been

addressed by both the state and federal governments, Mr Bogen said. Last year,

the US Environmental Protection Agency converged on the site to remove most of

the hazardous material.

Only 5 of 30 applicants statewide were approved for the SCPRIF funding,

according to Mr Bogen.