Just as the state reached a $500,000 settlement with Georgia Pacific to reimburse it for its investigation of a Superfund site at the former Brown Paper Company mill in Berlin, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to renew its investigation of a contaminated site Wilton — a site whose cleanup is seen as paving the way for a major redevelopment of the town.
The two legal actions took place at the same time in June, showing that dealing with industrial waste going back generations still has an impact on environmental and economic life.
The state Department of Environmental Services’ suit was filed June 22 against George Pacific, the Atlanta, Ga.-based paper manufacturer that was successor to the James River Company, which operated the mill after acquiring the Brown Paper Company in the 1980s. The mill was shut down in 2006.
The 4.6-acre Cell House property is part of the Chlor-Alkali Facility Superfund site in Berlin. (EPA photo)
The mill’s chemical facility, which dates back to the late 1800s, produced chlorine and sodium hydroxide, contaminating the soil, the groundwater and sediments of the Androscoggin River. The company also dumped hazardous waste and contaminated building debris in a landfill called the Cell House property, now capped by two feet of wood chips.
The actual cleanup isn’t scheduled to begin until 2024, but Georgia Pacific is on the hook for the state and federal costs incurred so far. The state says it’s owed $561,921.69.
Georgia Pacific agreed to pay the state portion, though it is not admitting any wrongdoing. On June 13, a company official signed a consent decree. That decree, however, won’t be final until it goes through a public comment period.
The state portion is a small fraction of the EPA’s costs. Drew Hoffinan, state project coordinator for NHDES, estimates that the price tag will be in excess of $10 million. He said the EPA and Georgia Pacific are still in negotiations.
Meanwhile, the EPA filed its own legal action two days after the Georgia Pacific filing, to gain access to a parcel of land called the Abbott Machine Co. site, believed to be contaminated by the company, which allegedly disposed of six 55-gallon barrels of sodium cyanide.
Wilton is interested in the site because it is trying to develop it to build a concert pavilion, right at the beginning of a riverwalk and related plans for economic development downtown. — BOB SANDERS
