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FORMER ARMS MANUFACTURER COMPLETES FIRST PHASE OF CLEAN-UP IN SITE IN STRATFORD

Release Date: 12/16/1999
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that a former arms manufacturer has finished removing more than 31,000 tons of contaminated soil from 68 acres in a site being developed at the border of Bridgeport and Stratford.

Sporting Goods Properties (formerly Remington Arms) excavated the soil from the Stratford section of the 422-acre site. The completion of this work, which began in 1997, represents a model for the kind of progress that can be made when companies, communities and the federal government work together to clean contaminated industrial sites.

"When we join forces, contaminated sites can be cleaned and restored to healthy conditions," said Patricia Meaney, Director of the Office of Site Remediation and Restoration at EPA-New England. "This large parcel is not there yet, but the progress so far sets an example for how a successful remediation project can work."

This site was used by Remington Arms until 1989 for production, testing, storage and disposal of small and large caliber ammunition and powders. Operations at the site left widespread contamination, mainly lead and other metals, in the soil.

In 1990, EPA and Remington Arms entered into an agreement requiring the company to investigate areas where discharges of hazardous waste may have occurred and to propose strategies for cleanup. Sporting Goods Property is planning to redevelop the property as a business park called Lake Success Business Park.

Cleanup work at the Sporting Goods Property site is being done in three stages. Removal of the 31,000 tons of soils in Stratford is part of the first phase, which involves excavation and treatment of soil throughout the site. In the second phase, the company will work with the community and EPA to remove ammunition from sediments in Lake Success. Final cleanup work will address remaining contaminated areas, including wetlands and groundwater.

EPA and Sporting Goods Properties have kept the public informed through meetings, written material and site tours. The company has had a community advisory panel in place since 1994. After talking to residents who were not happy with the standards set for the soil cleanup, EPA agreed to add a requirement that soils within 200 feet of the property line would be cleaned to residential standards. The rest of the soil is slated to be cleaned based on industrial and commercial use.