East Hampton Brownfields Redevelopment Agency Announces Completion of Cleanup

The Town of East Hampton announced that clean up of the former Gong Bell property located at 103 Main St. in the historic Village Center has been completed.

The work included the completion of assessment activities, the removal of a derelict structure, the removal of contaminated materials, the regrading of remaining contaminated soil and the isolation of the remaining soil under an impermeable membrane. The membrane is intended to prevent the potential migration of contaminants into Pocotopaug Creek. Once the soil was isolated and the necessary drainage layers constructed, final grading occurred and a new parking lot was constructed. The parking lot will provide additional parking for the Library/Community Center and Senior Center complex as well as the Village Center in general.

This project is the culmination of a years-long effort on the part of the Town to identify, screen and cleanup Brownfields properties to support redevelopment of the Village Center.

The town applied for and received its first EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant in 2003 when it was awarded $175,000 to conduct historical records searches as well as preliminary site assessments at several brownfield properties in the Village Center. The town-owned property at 103 Main St. was one of the sites where soil and groundwater samples were collected. Data obtained at that time indicated that several types of contaminants were present in the soil and groundwater including oils and heavy metals resulting from past industrial land uses.

The town subsequently applied for and received an EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant of $200,000 to remediate the identified soil contamination at 103 Main St. An initial phase of this work included the collection and analysis of additional soil samples in order to formulate a plan to remediate the property. 

The town, acting through its Brownfields Redevelopment Agency developed a scope of work and issued a request for proposals from qualified contractors in late 2010. A contract for site work was awarded in January and, after submittal of appropriate health and safety documentation, site work began in April with the demolition of the existing brick structure and removal of asbestos.

“Once again, through the hard work and dedication of our Agency members, the town has successfully cleaned up, and in this case successfully redeveloped, another Village Center property,” said Dan Wolfram, chairman of the BRDA. “A blighted and significantly underutilized property has been transformed into a parking area that we believe will provide needed spaces as the use of the Library and Senior Center continues to grow.”

To date, the town has received five EPA grant awards totaling $975,000.

• A Community-Wide Hazardous Substances Assessment Grant in 2003 for $175,000
• A Cleanup Grant for the Town-owned property at 13 Watrous St. in 2006 for $200,000
• A Cleanup Grant for the Town-owned property at 103 Main St. in 2007 for $200,000
• A second Community-Wide Hazardous Substances Assessment Grant in 2008 for $200,000
• A third Community-Wide Hazardous Substances Assessment Grant in 2010 for $200,000

With the completion of work at 103 Main St., the BRDA will turn its focus to performing work under the most recent Community-Wide Hazardous Substances Assessment Grant. The BRDA has recently selected an environmental consultant to execute the scope of work identified in the grant application. This work will again be focused within the Village Center.  

Property owners within the Village Center area that are interested in conducting environmental investigations on their property are urged to contact the Brownfield Redevelopment Agency through the town manager’s office.