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Public Comment Period Extended to August 24 For Proposed Cleanup Plan of Old Southington Landfill in Southington, CT

Release Date: 07/25/2006
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – July 25, 2006) – The public will have an additional 30 days to review a proposed cleanup plan for the 13 acre Old Southington Landfill Superfund site, located in the town of Southington, Conn. EPA has extended the public comment period in response to a request from a local citizen.

Public comments on the proposed cleanup plan may be submitted during the extended comment period, which will now end on August 24. EPA has already held an informal public informational meeting on June 21 at the Southington Town Hall, and a formal public hearing on July 6 at the Southington Library and Museum. Verbal comments from two citizens were received by EPA at the public hearing. No additional written comments had been received through July 21.

In Sept. 1994, EPA issued the first Record of Decision (ROD) for the Old Southington Landfill Superfund Site. The ROD required that the residential and commercial facilities on the landfill be relocated and that a cap be placed over the landfill. The landfill cap was completed in 2001. The ROD also required that additional groundwater investigations be undertaken to more fully assess the contaminated groundwater that extends over one half mile from the landfill to the Quinnipiac River.

Supplemental groundwater investigations began in 1999 and were completed in 2005. Based on this information, an Amended Feasibility Study was completed in May 2006 to develop and evaluate remedial alternatives to address the remaining threat to human health risk from the site: vapor emissions that may be migrating from the shallow groundwater plume into commercial buildings directly west across Old Turnpike Road. The groundwater remedy that will be selected by EPA following public review and comment is intended to be the final action for the Old Southington Landfill Superfund Site. The remedy will be formalized in a final Record of Decision by the end of September 2006.

The cleanup plan proposed by EPA is projected to cost between $226,000 to $695,000 and includes the following components:

- Institutional Controls to prevent potential human exposure to vapor that could seep into buildings from contaminated groundwater.
- Long term Groundwater Monitoring.
- Installation of building ventilation to prevent migration of volatile organic compound (VOC) vapors into impacted existing buildings.
- Five-year reviews to evaluate the effectiveness and adequacy of the remedial measure.
- Finalize the decision made in the 1994 Record of Decision.

Written comments may be submitted to EPA during the extended public comment period, ending on August 24. Comments may be submitted in writing to:

Almerinda Silva
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA
One Congress Street - HBT
Boston, MA 02114-2023
FAX: 617-918-1291
[email protected]

More information on the Proposed Cleanup Plan, complete Administrative Record and extensive background materials related to the Old Southington Landfill including documents that form the basis for EPA's selection of the preferred cleanup alternative are available for review online (epa.gov/ne/superfund/sites/oldsouthington), in addition to the Southington Public Library and EPA Records Center.

Southington Library and Museum
255 Main Street
Southington, CT
860-628-0947

EPA Records Center
1 Congress St.
Boston, MA
617-918-1440

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