Highlights:
- Federal EPA and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services have declared that the Cardinal Landfill facility in Farmington will be part of the Superfund program.
- Cleanup is expected to take 5-10 years and will begin next year.
- Site was formerly owned by Collins & Aikman which declared bankruptcy in 2005
- Estimated costs for the cleanup were not given
From the article:
Representatives from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Services told the Board of Selectmen Monday they were ready to move forward in working with the town to establish the former site of Collins & Aikman facility, known as the Cardinal Landfill, as a part of the federal Superfund program.
They said they hoped to begin a regulated cleanup of the site, which could take at least five to 10 years to clear fully of its contamination, beginning in April 2013.
The Cardinal Landfill, located on Davidson Drive, is a 123-acre property off Route 11, set close to the Cocheco River and abutting residential homes.
Chief Superfund Technical and Enforcement Support Representative Meghan F. Cassidy of the EPA said entering a Superfund program would allow the facility to be reused again, especially if interested buyers were looking to bring the facility back into operation.
Selectmen said they were hoping to open the land up for sale but E. Molly Stark of the Hazardous Waste Remediation Bureau with the state Department of Environmental Services (DES) stressed only the non-contaminated portions of the land could go on the market at this point.
She said given the size of the plume of contamination in the land's bedrock underground, where contaminants have already spread across the street, it would take years to clean up completely and require years of further monitoring to ensure environmental safety.
