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State, EPA and Mill Owner To Clean Former Fisherville Mill Site

Release Date: 06/06/2000
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1064

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized an agreement with the Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority to work together to clean up the Fisherville Mill site in Grafton, Mass.

Under an Administrative Order on Consent, EPA and the Central Massachusetts Economic Development Authority (CMEDA), with the cooperation of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will take responsibility for a part of the cleanup at the mill site, which suffered a massive fire in August 1999. The agreement paves the way for addressing the potential danger to the public or the environment from the release of hazardous substances at Fisherville Mill.

EPA will remove debris contaminated with asbestos and put it in trucks provided by CMEDA, a non-profit economic development authority with a current membership of nine central Massachusetts communities. CMEDA will then transport and dispose of the debris at a licensed disposal facility. The presence of contaminated debris is preventing the Authority and DEP from addressing potential threats to nearby public drinking water wells from contaminated groundwater under the site.

"The state and Economic Development Authority are on the job to make sure the former site of Fisherville Mill is not a threat to the public or the environment, now or in the future" said Mindy S. Lubber, Regional Administrator for EPA New England. "After this cleanup work is done, we will be one step closer to redeveloping this former manufacturing site so it can once again contribute to the community."

"This agreement is wonderful news for the residents of the communities that surround the former Fisherville Mill," said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lauren Liss. "What was a tragic and devastating fire almost a year ago will be transformed into new economic opportunities for the town of Grafton and an environmentally safer site for the neighborhood."

The Aug. 3 fire at Fisherville Mills destroyed the 19th Century facility, including 330,000 square feet of building space and a treatment plant that had been treating contaminated groundwater under the mill. The groundwater was contaminated by petroleum and toxic chemicals that were released during manufacturing operations. Between 1882 and 1986, Fisherville Mill manufactured a variety of products, including textiles, machine parts, stamps and lawn furniture. The former treatment plant was installed in 1996 by DEP.

Immediately following the fire, EPA removed debris contaminated with asbestos that had been spread across Grafton and four downwind towns by the fire in order to eliminate the immediate threat to the public. The site itself is still contaminated with petroleum, chlorinated volatile organic compounds, asbestos and heavy metals. The agreement between EPA and CMEDA will address the contaminated debris, which is hampering the state-directed groundwater cleanup process. The cleanup will allow the site to be put back to productive use.