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EPA ADDS $13 MILLION TO FUNDING FOR CLEANUP OF eRAYMARK PROPERTY

Release Date: 08/06/1996
Contact Information: Mike Jasinski, EPA Team Leader; (617) 573-5786 Liza Judge, EPA Community Involvement; (617) 918-1067 Mike Hill, EPA Project Manager; (617) 573-9653

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that it will dedicate an additional $13 million toward the capping and cleanup of the Raymark property in Stratford, Conn. U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman joined EPA at the site to announce the new funding.

This announcement brings the total funding for the cleanup of the Raymark property to $52 million. These additional funds will allow EPA to purchase and install many supply elements essential to the construction of the protective cap. This construction is also necessary for the redevelopment planned by Leach Family Holdings, Inc.

"Today, EPA is making an additional $13 million available to ensure that Stratford can see the Raymark site put back to productive use even faster," EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner stated.

"Today marks the beginning of the final chapter of the Raymark cleanup," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's regional administrator for New England. "We are moving full steam ahead toward the redevelopment of this important site in Stratford."

"EPA has dedicated more than $50 million to clean up Raymark and restore this important property to productive commercial use," DeVillars added. "The people of Stratford deserve nothing less. Every one of those taxpayer dollars is money well spent."

The supplies purchased with this funding will include hundreds of steel pilings, six million square feet of cap liner materials, and thousands of tons of soil and sand. The funding will also allow EPA to purchase wells, piping and treatment system components to remove gases and solvents from below the cap.

The installation of pilings to support one of the proposed buildings will begin later this week. Construction of the cap -- consisting of various layers of soil, and geosynthetic liners and fabrics -- will begin in September and is expected to be completed early next year.

Presently, EPA anticipates that an additional $15 million is still needed to complete the cleanup of the Raymark property.

Last week, EPA signed a unique agreement with Leach Family Holdings, Inc., under which EPA will incorporate the plans of the prospective redeveloper into the cleanup of the Raymark site. The redevelopment is expected to create 1,000 new jobs and a $1 million in local tax revenue.