Olin Case Studies Offer Six Lakes Context

In an effort to better understand the Olin Corporation's practices around cleanup of contaminated sites like Six Lakes, Yale School of the Environment collaborated with the Six Lakes Park Coalition (SLPC) last semester by enabling a graduate student to work with us as a research fellow. YSE’s Nick Page researched several sites that, like Six Lakes, are owned by Olin and have required cleanups, including “Superfund” sites designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nick presented his learnings to the SLPC steering committee last month.

One site is in McIntosh, Alabama, where Olin produced chlorinated organic pesticides for 30 years. According to the EPA, “Historical on-site waste management practices contaminated groundwater, surface water, soil, sediment and biota”—or plants and animals living there.

Cleanup of the site included Olin removing 11,407 tons of hexochlorobenzene-contaminated soil from the site; preventing the use of contaminated water and soil; protecting the clay caps put in place to sequester contamination; and initiating groundwater monitoring. Requirements were less stringent in other parts of the site, where removal of many trees would have been required in order to implement stricter standards.

The EPA five-year review deemed the remedy protective, but concerns about its long-term effectiveness remain. Olin is still operating in McIntosh, producing chlorine, caustic soda, and sodium hypochlorite and storing hydrazide compounds at the site. The plant is situated in a largely African-American and indigenous community, and some residents are suing the company for releasing chlorine gas on three separate occasions without notifying them; they say they have suffered health impacts as a result.

“Nick's targeted research into this and other contaminated Olin properties was especially valuable, as it pointed us to specific examples of different remediation, ownership, and end use scenarios that have already been implemented at other Olin-owned properties," said SLPC steering committee member Sue McDonald.

Here’s a quick look at three other Olin sites Nick brought to our attention:

Moundsville, West Virginia

This Olin factory, located on the Ohio River, produced a variety of toxic chemicals. According to the EPA, “Mercury and chloromethane compounds have been identified in the groundwater.” The cleanup here is focused on protecting the public groundwater supply. This cleanup will contain and remove contaminants, which, according to an EPA press release, will “allow the community to benefit from reuse and improve the Ohio River for recreation and fishing.” 

New Haven, Connecticut

An Olin property on Munson Street in New Haven was used for ammunition production and later for chemical research and development. The soil was contaminated by lead and PCBs. All of the materials extracted were to be removed and disposed of off-site, per state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) standards. This remediated brownfield is being redeveloped into apartment housing. The New Haven Independent covered the groundbreaking in December.

Wilmington, Massachusetts

In the course of his research last November, Nick also uncovered information about a community meeting on an active Olin EPA Superfund site in Wilmington, Massachusetts that was happening one week later. Sue McDonald hopped in her car and drove to suburban Boston to attend. At the EPA-organized community information event, she connected with members of a community group that formed 20 years ago to hold Olin accountable for the potentially devastating health and environmental impact of its past corporate practices, including a cancer cluster among children in the town and pollution of the municipal water supply. Sue also connected with university researchers involved with both the science and the community engagement aspects of the community group's work. Through these contacts, we've gained useful insights and advice on the long process of working with the community, government at all levels, and numerous independent experts and advisors to succeed in addressing the challenges presented by Olin's past and current treatment of its contaminated properties.

DEEP shares testing update

Questions about contamination, testing, the remediation process, and more were on the agenda when the SLPC steering committee and Save the Sound attorneys sat down with representatives from DEEP’s Remediation Division earlier this week. We learned that results of Olin’s testing onsite at Six Lakes last summer and fall are due to DEEP in March and will be made publicly available on the agency’s web portal. After analyzing the data, DEEP will return to Hamden for a second annual community meeting to present information to the general public and answer questions. We’re working on scheduling that meeting for sometime in May and will share the details with you as soon as possible. Last June, a community presentation by DEEP (pictured below) was attended by nearly 100 concerned neighbors and Six Lakes advocates.

Remington Woods needs your help, too!

If you haven’t yet signed our “Petition to Restore and Conserve Six Lakes/Olin Powder Farm as an Act of Restorative Justice for Southern Hamden and a Park for the Benefit of All,” you can do so here—and please, pass on this link to your local friends and neighbors!

And while you’re in a signing mood, Bridgeport’s Remington Woods could use your help as well! This former industrial site bears several similarities to Six Lakes, and a similar coalition is working to preserve it. Sign Sierra Club's petition to tell owner Corteva and municipal leaders in Bridgeport and Stratford that you want to see Remington Woods preserved!