EPA New England Press Releases

EPA TO BEGIN CLEAN UP AT CHASE BRASS SITE

Contact: Alice Kaufman, EPA Community Affairs Office, (617) 918-1064

For immediate release: October 16, 2001; Release # 01-10-29

Boston - EPA will begin cleanup this week at the Chase Brass and Copper industrial waste site in Waterbury, CT. EPA estimates the total cost of cleanup to be $4,180,000. From 1868 to 1976, the approximately 5-acre site, located on a 100-acre lot, had been used as a waste disposal area for process waste including metal turning waste and construction debris generated by the company. The site is contaminated with heavy metals including lead, chromium, copper, zinc and nickel, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and asbestos. Beginning this week, EPA contractors will conduct the following cleanup activities:

• excavate and consolidate contaminated soil, debris and sediments along the riverbank and place rip rap on the riverbank to protect the riverbank and prevent future erosion;
• place excavated materials in areas above the groundwater table;
• construct a soil cover, a drainage and erosion control system; and,
• restore the site.
• throughout the excavation activities, EPA staff will conduct area air monitoring and take precautions to limit dust.

"We've reinforced the bridge over the Naugatuck River, and completed necessary studies and evaluations of the site to know what our next steps are," said Robert W. Varney, EPA New England regional administrator. "Final plans include riverfront and habitat restoration with provisions for public access to the river."