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Public Meeting and Hearing on Sept. 12 Will Discuss Groundwater at Fletcher’s Paint Superfund Site in Milford, N.H.

Release Date: 08/21/2012
Contact Information: Kate Renahan, (617) 918-1491

(Boston, Mass. – Aug. 21, 2012) – EPA will hold a Public Information Meeting followed by a formal Public Hearing for the Fletcher’s Paint Superfund Site on Wed. Sept. 12, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at the Milford Town Hall, located at 1 Union Square, Milford N.H. The meeting will provide updates on EPA’s determination that groundwater under the Keyes Field portion of the site requires no further action to protect public health or the environment.

Currently, the groundwater under Keyes field is not being used and any contaminants remaining are related to an upgradient petroleum release being addressed by the State or are naturally occurring substances found in groundwater. A proposed groundwater management zone at the site includes the area of the Keyes Field and would prohibit the use of this groundwater.

Previous to this proposal, EPA required General Electric to establish a groundwater management zone under N.H. state regulations. This zone requires monitoring of groundwater contaminated by hazardous substances found at the former Fletcher’s Paint properties, following cleanup of the contaminated soils.  The groundwater management zone under consideration for the site includes the Keyes Field and therefore no further action is necessary there.

EPA will be accepting public comment on the Fletcher’s Paint Superfund Site cleanup proposal from Aug. 23 through Sept. 24, 2012.

Fletcher’s Paint is a 2-acre site consisting of two neighboring lots formerly owned by Fletcher's Paint Works; a former manufacturing plant/retail outlet on Elm Street and a storage area 700 feet south on Mill Street. Fletcher's Paint Works manufactured and sold paints and stains for residential use at its Milford plant from 1949 until 1991.

The Site was listed on the National Priorities List (i.e., Superfund) following closure of the Keyes Municipal Supply Well in 1984 due to the presence of volatile organic compounds.  The primary contaminant of concern at the Fletcher’s Site is polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and Trichloroethylene (TCE). Hundreds of drums of scrap pyranol (containing PCBs and TCE) were transported to, stored at and released onto these properties during the 1950’s through the 1970’s.

More information:

- Comprehensive site history of EPA cleanup work at Fletcher's Paint Superfund Site (www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/fletcher)

- Comments on the Keyes Field portion of the Fletcher’s Paint Superfund Site can be submitted no later than Sept. 24, 2012.  Send written comments to:

Cheryl Sprague
Project Manager
EPA New England
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Mail Code OSRR07-1
Boston, MA 02109-3912

or  E-mail comments to Cheryl Sprague ([email protected]). Comments may also be faxed, attention Cheryl Sprague, at (617) 918-0244.

- The Administrative Record, which includes the Record of Decisions and other documents that formed the basis for EPA's no action determination, is available for review at the Wadleigh Memorial Library, Nashua Street, Milford, N.H., and the U.S. EPA Records Center, 5 Post Office Square in Boston.

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