Fairfield Making List Of Possible Contaminated Sites

FAIRFIELD, CT — As Fairfield awaits the results of testing to determine if there is asbestos at Gould Manor Park, the town is compiling a list of sites that could also contain contaminants. State officials started looking for contamination at the park almost a week ago in connection with an investigation of Fairfield's public works yard and Julian Development, the contractor hired to run the yard.

Siding shingles along a 3-foot stretch of sidewalk at the park were being examined by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The tests were being done at the direction of Fairfield police and the state's attorney due to concerns the area contains contaminated material from the public works yard.

While First Selectman Mike Tetreau declined to estimate the number of sites that could contain contaminants, he said the list would likely include any locations where projects involving the public works department took place between 2013 and 2016. Fairfield is consulting with a licensed environmental professional to put together a plan to test those sites, according to Tetreau.

"The only way to get to the bottom of that is to test them all," he said.

The town hired Julian Development in 2013 to run the public works yard and reduce the size of a pile of leftover project material on the property from 40,000 cubic yards. Over the course of the three-year contract, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before the contract was set to end, contamination was discovered on the property. After conservation officials said the transportation and dumping of contaminated material could have violated state or federal law, police opened an investigation.

Director of Public Works Joe Michelangelo, Superintendent of Public Works Scott Bartlett and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian were arrested last week and are accused of crimes including larceny, forgery and dumping. The majority of the crimes are alleged to have occurred during the years Julian Development was under contract to operate the yard on Richard White Way. Both Michelangelo and Bartlett have been placed on leave from their town jobs.

In addition to the criminal case, Fairfield has sued Julian for about $3 million in costs associated with the yard and Julian has sued the town for defamation.

The situation with Gould Manor Park is not the first time concerns have been raised about unsafe material on Fairfield property. In 2015, the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed the discovery that fill material on town fields contained glass, according to commission meeting minutes from spring of that year.

"DPW evidently took the fill from the wrong pile," the minutes state.

A licensed environmental professional who reviewed Gould Manor Park last week advised town officials to pick up visible glass and shingle at the site, according to Tetreau.