Redding Pilot
Redding
Informational meeting set
on G&B remediation plan

Aug 15, 2007

by SUSAN WOLF
pilot@thereddingpilot.com

The proposed Remedial Action Plan for the former Gilbert & Bennett wire mill site in Georgetown is the subject of an informational meeting next Thursday, Aug. 16.

The meeting is set at town hall at 7 p.m.

Georgetown Land Development Company, the site’s redeveloper, is conducting the meeting. Representatives from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the state public health department will attend. The public may make comments or ask questions at the meeting.

The site was historically used by Gilbert & Bennett Manufacturing Company to produce a variety of metal products, including insect screening and metal fences.

Georgetown Land Development Company is remediating the site as part of its redevelopment project, which includes the creation of a pedestrian-friendly village with mixed uses, such as residential and commercial.

Plans also call for a community theater, a health club, a facility for Norwalk Hospital, a new railroad station, and a parking garage.

The remedial action plan applies to the manufacturing area of the former wire mill facility north from Route 107 to the top of Factory Pond off Portland Avenue.

It also includes the southern parcel, which is south of Route 107, where the Georgetown sewer plant is located.

Next Thursday’s presentation is “like a master plan for the remediation,” said  Rob Danielson, a licensed environmental professional with Fuss and O’Neill, Inc., which developed the plan.

The remedial action plan has been “a pretty involved process,” he said. The first plan was proposed in September 2004. There have been a number of revisions since then “to make sure the plan is protective of human health and the environment,” Mr. Danielson said.

The meeting is required by the DEP as part of its approval process.

The remedial action plan has been approved “to the extent the DEP says it’s OK subject to public comment,” said Richard Gibbons, GLDC’s attorney. The DEP wants the public comment before granting final approval to the plan.

At the meeting, Fuss and O’Neill representatives will give a presentation to outline the remedial action plan.

It will include what is being done to remediate the buildings, soils and groundwater at the site.

“We’ll provide information on the procedures and the safety precautions for implementing the remediation action plan,” said Mr. Gibbons.

The buildings on the site have been decontaminated to remove dust and asbestos, and some have been demolished, said Mr. Danielson.

More than 90% of buildings slated for removal are gone, he added.

Where there are areas of soil contamination, they will either be excavated or capped, he said. The cap consists of a number of things, such as placing new buildings over the soil, or keeping existing buildings, or placing a liner system in between buildings to prevent any precipitation from contacting any of the soils, said Mr. Danielson.

Caps will be placed on areas that would potentially impact groundwater, he said. Certain soils, he added, will be treated and then capped.

“The important part of the remediation is that some of the impacted soils from the manufacturing parcel will be consolidated at the southern parcel,” said Mr. Danielson.

This area would ultimately be capped with the parking garage, he explained.

One concern, he added is the neighbors, so the state health department wants to make sure a dust monitoring plan is in place.

There is a dust monitoring plan in effect now and provisions for a more elaborate plan during the remediation process.

“The remedial action plan is designed to improve the Norwalk River quality,” said Mr. Gibbons.

The public has 60 days from the date (July 19) the legal notice for the meeting was published in The Pilot to make comments.

“We have to address any public comments and questions to the DEP’s satisfaction. Then the DEP can approve the report,” said Mr. Gibbons. “We’re hoping late summer or early fall for final approval.”

The length of the remediation process depends on the development of the site.

“The development of the site, in effect, implements the remediation, so this is an ongoing process,” said Mr. Gibbons.

The proposed remedial action plan is available for review at the Mark Twain Library, the Weston Public Library and the Wilton Library.

© Copyright 2007 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers