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EPA PLANS $500,000 CLEANUP AT QUEEN STREET DUMP

Release Date: 03/11/1998
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office (617) 918-4154

BOSTON - The New England office of the Environmental Protection Agency will begin work this spring to remove chromium-contaminated tannery waste from the Queen Street Dump in Boscawen, N.H.

The EPA released $500,000 in cleanup funds today after several months of negotiations with the town of Boscawen and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services to dispose of the waste in the nearby Corn Hill Landfill. The negotiations came to a close last night when town voters passed a referendum approving $980,000 to fund an official closure of the landfill. Disposing the tannery waste in the local landfill will significantly reduce transportation and disposal costs during the cleanup.

"This is an environmental victory for the town of Boscawen and the state of New Hampshire," said John P. Devillars, administrator of the EPA's New England office. "Residents of Boscawen voted for the right thing last night, moving one step closer to a cleaner community while saving money and meeting public health standards."

"EPA's participation, along with financial assistance from the Department of Environmental Services, helped solve these two difficult environmental problems," said New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services commissioner Robert Varney. "This solution evolved into a win-win situation for everyone. The threat of further chromium contamination will be removed, a town landfill gets a much needed permanent closing, and both operations will be receiving significant funding from federal and state sources."

"EPA's work in our community not only helps out the local taxpayers, but will also erase what has been a sore spot to hunters, hikers and cross country skiers who use land in the area," remarked Tom Danko, Chairman of the Boscawen Board of Selectmen.

The EPA will spend the next several months excavating the tannery waste and heavily contaminated soil and disposing of the materials at the Corn Hill Landfill. Analytical results from 23 test pits dug by the DES indicated that the total volume of waste at the site is less than originally estimated. The cleanup will significantly reduce threats posed by the chromium contaminated soils to the surrounding community and the environment.

The EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that concentrations of chromium migrating from soils at the site to a nearby brook could pose a significant threat to plants and animals that live in the brook. The dump is also located in the Boscawen Town Forest, used by local residents for recreation. In November 1997, the town erected a temporary fence around contaminated areas at the dump to prevent people from coming in contact with the contamination.

Once the EPA completes the cleanup, the town will construct an impermeable cap over the Corn Hill Landfill to prevent migration of chromium and other landfill contaminants. The DES will provide a low interest loan to the town to construct the landfill cap and will also reimburse the town for 20 percent of its eligible construction costs.

In August 1997, the DES requested the EPA's assistance at the Queen Street Dump. Analytical results of samples collected from exposed tannery waste, soil near the exposed waste, and from an abutting brook, indicated high levels of chromium.

The Queen Street Dump is located at the end of Weir Road in the Boscawen Town Forest in Boscawen. The Allied Leather Corporation generated and shipped all of the chromium-contaminated tannery waste to the site between 1953 and 1978. Under state of New Hampshire orders, Allied Leather shipped several thousand tons of the waste offsite from 1980 to 1982. However, due to lack of funding and eventual bankruptcy, the company failed to complete the cleanup.