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EPA and NH DES approve final cleanup plan for Troy Mills Landfill site in Troy, NH

Release Date: 10/06/2005
Contact Information:

Contact: Angela Bonarrigo (bonarrigo.angela@epa.gov), Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1034

For Immediate Release: October 6, 2005; Release # ab051002

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with concurrence from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES), has made a final remedy decision for the Troy Mills Landfill site in Troy, NH. EPA announced the chosen plan in a document called the Record of Decision (ROD) on September 30.

The final ROD for the Superfund site calls for maintaining a newly constructed permeable soil cap over the former Troy Mills, Inc. drum disposal area and allowing naturally occurring processes to continue reducing contaminant concentrations in the groundwater. Prior to issuing its final cleanup decision, EPA solicited public comment between July and August 2005 on the proposal.

EPA estimates the total cost of the selected cleanup plan to be about $3.0 million. The ROD includes the following major components:

• Maintaining the newly constructed permeable soil cap over the drum disposal area to allow precipitation to flow through the cap and facilitate the cleanup of the groundwater. The cap is vegetated to provide stability and prevent erosion.
• Allowing naturally occurring processes to continue reducing contaminant concentrations in the groundwater.
• Capturing any potential free product, called light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL), in the existing series of interceptor trenches constructed by EPA in 2003. The LNAPL will be disposed of off-site.
• Establishing institutional controls that restrict the use of contaminated groundwater for drinking water purposes; restrict activities that would disturb the cap; restrict activities that would disturb remedy components (such as monitoring wells and the interceptor trenches); and require notification of any changes in the use of the land.
• Implementing a comprehensive monitoring and sampling program to evaluate groundwater, surface water, sediment, leachate and wetlands at the site to ensure that natural attenuation processes are continuing as expected.
• Monitoring and maintaining the permeable soil cap.

The Troy Mills Landfill is located about 1.5 miles south of downtown Troy off of a dirt road. 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.

Responses to comments received during the public comment period can be found in the Responsiveness Summary which is part of the Record of Decision. A Responsiveness Summary includes written responses to significant comments, criticisms, and / or new data submitted during the public comment period. The Record of Decision and other site documents are available for public review at the Gay-Kimball Public Library in Troy and at EPA’s Records Center in Boston, as well as on the EPA website at www.epa.gov/ne/superfund/sites/troymills

Related Information:
Troy Mills Landfill Site Fact Sheet
Cleanup Process
Cleanup in New England