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Superfund Cleanup in Corinna, Maine Wins Build America Award

Release Date: 04/29/04
Contact Information: Contact: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1014

For Immediate Release: 4/28/04; Release # 04-04-38

BOSTON – The U.S. EPA is pleased to announce that the Superfund cleanup at the Eastland Woolen Mill in Corinna, Maine was recently selected as a winner of a 2004 Build America Award. The site was honored as the winner in the Environmental Remediation category by the Association of General Contractors of America, which presents the awards, seen as top awards for the construction industry.

The work at the site is funded and overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency’s New England Office and implemented by the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers New England District and their contractor, Weston Solutions, Inc. In addition to the Build America Award, the cleanup project also received an Engineering Excellence Honor Award from the National American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and the Maine chapter of ACEC for the design work performed by MACTEC Engineering and Consulting Inc. of Portland, Maine.

Since 1999, EPA, working with the town of Corinna, the state of Maine and local stakeholders, has been able to remove the contaminated mill structures along with 100,000 tons of contaminated soil, and treat the contaminated soil to levels that will allow for re-use of the property. The complex project required rerouting the East Branch of the Sebasticook River and relocating a highway, bridges, and a historic building so that underlying contamination could be excavated and treated. Abandoned mill buildings contaminated with asbestos were demolished and removed to allow access to the contaminated soil. An innovative low-temperature thermal treatment system was used to treat 100,000 tons of chlorinated, benzene-contaminated soil and sediment.

EPA’s cleanup has facilitated the re-vitalization of the abandoned mill complex. Construction of a senior housing facility on the back portion of the Site will begin in late 2004. A re-use plan developed by the town of Corinna has created a blueprint to restore the formerly contaminated parcel to a residential and commercial enterprise zone that incorporates public green space, including a river side walking trail.

“We’re very proud of the work being done by Weston, the Army Corps of Engineers, and EPA employees at the Eastland Woolen Mill site,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA’s New England Office. “This award is recognition of how much hard work and creativity they’ve put into this cleanup for the residents of Corrina.”

“We were amazed by the state-of-the-art technology and innovative project management techniques of the entries we received this year,” said AGC of America President Jack Kelley. To be chosen as one of the recipients of the construction industry’s ‘Oscars’ is quite an accomplishment.”

Related Information:
Eastland Woolen Mill Fact Sheet
Long-Term Cleanups