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EPA to Cleanup Sprague Mill

Release Date: 10/18/2000
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1064

Boston - EPA New England is returning this month to the former Baltic Mill in Sprague, Connecticut after determining that the fire-ravaged five-story structure needed additional cleanup work to remove asbestos-containing debris. This cleanup is expected to cost $1.5 million and take approximately three months to complete.

"Abandoned mills around New England are a fire hazard, as we have seen here and at two others in Massachusetts," said Mindy S. Lubber, EPA New England regional administrator. "Because they are often in poor condition, it makes it easy for curious teens to investigate its empty rooms, and as in this case, accidently start a catastrophic fire. These buildings do not make safe playgrounds for curious minds. Last October, EPA New England requested additional funding from the National Review Board in Washington D.C. so that work at the site could continue. The panel authorized up to $2.3 million for further cleanup. I am pleased that we were able to secure this additional funding to continue cleanup work at this site."

The site is located in a mixed residential/industrial area with residences and the Baltic Fire Department just 300 feet from the site.

Youths, apparently trespassing in the mill, accidently set fire to the mill in August of 1999 when they used a cigarette lighter to remove a small fiberglass boat shell from its wooden mold. Fire quickly spread throughout the abandoned building, leaving only the brick and granite walls. The intense heat and convection from the fire spread asbestos roofing material and asbestos pipe insulation as far as six miles from the site. The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and EPA New England responded to the fire emergency to cleanup the asbestos-containing debris during which 125 cubic yards of contaminated material was removed for safe disposal.

"The intensity of the fire caused debris from the entire five floors to collapse into the building," said Athanasios Hatzopoulos, EPA's On-Scene Coordinator. "The building that still stands is structurally unsafe and because its roof and windows are gone, the friable asbestos material remaining in the building and immediately around the building can be released into the surrounding area via wind or erosion."

Hatzopolous also observed several drums and three electrical transformers adjacent to the dilapidated -more- building and will conduct sampling to assess their contents once the area is safe to enter.

EPA plans to:

• Secure the site to prevent unauthorized access.
  
• Evaluate the structural integrity of the remaining walls before demolishing them to permit access to asbestos-contaminated debris, drums and electrical transformers.
  
• Conduct sampling for asbestos to further delineate the contaminated areas. Sample the drums and electrical transformers to identify the contents.
  
• Remove and dispose of safely all contaminated materials.