Raymark cleanup continues on schedule, officials say
STRATFORD — Cleanup of the Raymark Industries site is mostly on schedule at this point, environmental engineer Jim DiLorenzo from the Environmental Protection Agency said at a public meeting Wednesday night.
The team is currently excavating contaminates from a vacant lot behind Blue Goose Restaurant and are set to finish that portion of the project by the end of April, DiLorenzo said.
Cleanup efforts are focused on removing soil containing lead, chrysotile asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and copper, according to a Raymark Community Advisory Group meeting presentation from Dec. 2017.
After remediation of the lot is complete, the EPA and U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers will also remediate plots at Beacon Point, Hitchcock Marina and possibly Third Avenue and Lockwood before the year’s end. The group hopes to be done with the remediation portion by the end of 2024, DiLorenzo said.
“We hope to be done by the end of 2024 and out of town with the consolidation remedied at that time,” DiLorenzo said. “So far that remains on that schedule and we do have funding in place to keep us going.”
DiLorenzo said the group hopes to move about half of the total volume of contaminants to the former Raybestos Memorial Field by the end of this year, with the rest coming by the end of 2023.
There is also a new EPA office at 300 Ferry Boulevard. This will serve as an office space for workers from the EPA, plus the engineers and any contractors for the project.
The placement of the office is “strategic” since it is near other properties on Ferry Boulevard that need remediation, DiLorenzo said. This space is also one of the properties that needs to be remediated, which officials considered a benefit.
“By renting it now we have one less business to coordinate with as well,” DiLorenzo said.
The office will also host future advisory group meetings, with the option to participate remotely, DiLorenzo said.
Officials also said that they have continued to monitor airborne contaminants at a variety of points near cleanup sites. Weekly air reports are posted on the town website, they said.
“There have been no risks whatsoever to the workers or the residents nearby abutting the property or anywhere near it,” said Dave Heislein, the Army Corps of Engineers project manager.
Heislein said they make sure to keep all soil wet to reduce the amount of dust kicked up into the air.
The contract for construction on a storm water system upgrade has been awarded, fellow project manager Mike Looney said. The construction will start in late May and is expected to take nine months.
The contract was awarded to the cleanup’s primary contractor, Sevenson Environmental, Inc., which has subcontracted John J. Brennan Construction Company. Looney said John J. Brennan will be doing most of the work.
A new pump station is a portion of this storm water system, but this is still yet to go out for bid, he said.
Raymark Industries, Inc. was an automotive parts manufacturer in Stratford. The company dumped liquid waste and contaminates into containment pools, but waste also entered Ferry Creek through on-site lagoons, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration. Sludge and soil from these lagoons was used as fill for properties in town and along the Housatonic River.