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EPA and NH DES to Hold Information Meeting on Cleanup of the Troy Mills Landfill

Release Date: 06/30/04
Contact Information: Contact: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Involvement Office, (617) 918-1064

For Immediate Release: June 30, 2004 ; Release # 04-06-38

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services will be holding a public information meeting on Thursday, July 22 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Meadowood County Area Fire Department Assembly Hall in Fitzwilliam, N.H. to discuss activities beginning this month to remove buried drums containing industrial solvents and other hazardous chemicals from the site.

In March, EPA committed $8 million to undertake the drum removal effort. Beginning next week, EPA will begin work in the field to excavate, remove and safely dispose of the drums, and clean up contaminated soils at the landfill.

EPA and NH DES have received access from the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development to use the rail bed to enter and leave the landfill, thus limiting the amount of traffic on Troy and Fitzwilliam roads during the construction project. The focus of the meeting will be on the cleanup objectives, construction schedule, work hours and truck traffic.

The site was listed on the National Priorities List (NPL), commonly known as the Superfund, in September of 2003. The Superfund makes public funds available to clean up toxic waste sites when private financing is unavailable. In September 2002, EPA performed 14 test pit excavations in a two acre portion of the landfill and found deteriorated drums containing liquids and/or sludge in each. The drums contained hazardous materials including petroleum-based degreasers such as Varsol solvent, and plasticizer wastes.

The Troy Mills Landfill (also called the Rockwood Brook Landfill), is located about 1.5 miles south of downtown Troy off of a dirt road. The 10-acre landfill was used from1967 until 2001 as an industrial waste disposal area by the owner, a local fabric manufacturer. From 1967 to 1978, two acres were used to dispose of up to an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 drums of liquid wastes and sludges containing Varsol, vinyl resins, plasticizers, pigments, top-coating products and industrial organic solvents in a two-acre portion of the landfill. After 1978, the remaining eight acres were used to dispose of waste fabric scraps and other solid waste.

Related Information:
Troy Mills Landfill NPL Factsheet
Cleanup
Hazardous Waste
Landfills