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Cleanup of Hazardous Materials Completed at Hillsborough, N.H. Site

Release Date: 09/19/2011
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass.  Sept. 19. 2011) – Cleanup of household appliances, contaminated soil, drums filled with toxic waste and other hazardous materials was completed recently by the US Environmental Protection Agency at an abandoned one-acre residential parcel in Hillsborough, N.H. The cleanup of the Davison Property site at 471 Second NH Turnpike (Route 31) began in January and cost about $763,000.

Hazardous substances, including arsenic, lead, chromium, mercury, zinc and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds were found in soil samples taken earlier this year. These substances were being released into the environment through leaching, erosion and runoff, posing a potential public health threat.

The cleanup involved the removal of contaminated soil, construction and demolition debris, electronic equipment and other recyclable materials. It also involved taking numerous soil samples, demolishing unsafe structures such as sheds and chicken coops and restoring the disturbed areas.

In all, EPA removed 145 tons of construction and demolition debris, 437 tons of soils and debris, 40,620 pounds of scrap steel, 80 pounds of household chemicals, a 325-pounds box of lab-packed waste, a drum of pesticide and flammable aerosols, a drum of waste corrosive, 44,136 pounds of CRT monitors and electronic waste as well as mercury-containing light bulbs, two refrigerators, four air conditioners, eight propane tanks, a washing machine and a mercury thermometer and a 55-gallon drum of hazardous blue colored solid that contained high levels of leachable lead.

Shortly after the completion of soil removal, the town funded an asbestos abatement and demolished the residence.

The Davison property included a condemned 200-year-old house, two sheds, remnants of a third shed and a cinderblock building, a former chicken coop, a trailer and many piles of electronic equipment, metal and wood debris as well as numerous containers.

This site was referred to EPA in late May 2010 by the NH Department of Environmental Services following a state inspection earlier that month.

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