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Lots of folks on the recent perimeter walk of the Six Lakes property had questions about contamination on the property and what it’s going to take to clean it up. In this monthly update, we’ve put together answers to your most frequently asked questions about Six Lakes contamination.
What chemicals are in the soil at Six Lakes?
Olin used the 102-acre “Olin Powder Farm,” now known as Six Lakes, for munitions testing (until 1967) and industrial waste disposal, including dumping and burning of potentially toxic materials, with the result that several kinds of contaminants are present at high levels in some areas within the site.
Contaminants identified within the areas of concern (AOCs) include lead, other metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Most of these contaminants were found in most of the AOCs in significant concentrations in either the soil, the groundwater, or both. New, more extensive sampling and testing, making use of improved testing and geolocation technologies, has been taking place in all the AOCs in the summer and fall of 2023, and the results will be evaluated against the current Connecticut remediation standards.
Determining what specific public health dangers are presented by the levels of each of the various categories of contaminants at the site is an important step that will become possible as the results of the current testing are reported and analyzed. It will need to take into account many factors, including the specific contaminants found and their locations and concentrations, as well as public health standards associated with the desired end use of the site: a park or open space accessible to all.
What’s been done so far to remediate contamination on the site?
“Superfund” legislation (officially known as CERCLA) passed by Congress in 1980 established funding mechanisms for assessment and cleanup of abandoned or mismanaged hazardous waste sites.
This led to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigations and assessments of the levels and locations of contaminants in the Olin Powder Farm property in the 1980s, resulting in a consent order signed in 1986 (and amended in 1987) between the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (now the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or DEEP) and Olin Corporation. This consent order required Olin to investigate the contaminants on the site, their levels, and their locations; to work with DEEP to ensure the investigation was thorough; and to develop a site remediation plan to meet environmental standards for the contaminants involved.
Some remediation took place a few years after that consent order. However, for the most part, the site has not been cleaned up. That’s why DEEP sent Olin back onsite this summer and fall to test the known Areas of Concern and update data. When DEEP is satisfied that it has sufficient information, which may require more than one round of testing, it will create a remediation plan for cleanup to be finished, taking into account the intended end use of the site as a publicly accessible park or open space.
Is contamination worse in some parts of the property than in others?
The 1987 consent order identified six zones within the site as Areas of Concern (AOCs) and prioritized them for remediation because of the especially high levels of contaminants at those locations. The AOCs are all located in the southern portion of the site, totaling roughly 8 acres in area. An additional zone referred to as the Central Disposal Area was not specified in the consent order but is near the AOCs and is often included with them in studies of the site.
Other parts of the site may be contaminated as well. Considering that the non-AOC portions of the site may well be used for recreation in a future park, additional testing of soils, groundwater and water and sediments of the ponds of this section is desirable. DEEP and Olin have recommended the testing of 12 additional land areas outside (and generally to the north) of the AOCs, plus 5 ponds, once the current round of testing within the AOCs has been completed and analyzed.
What about contamination in the ponds?
The Six Lakes Park Coalition steering committee recently has met with and continues in discussion with the Regional Water Authority. A very small percentage of the water we drink originates on this property, and the RWA assures us that our drinking water is thoroughly treated, routinely tested, and safe for drinking. Details of RWA data on the water supply overall are available here.
What is Six Lakes Park Coalition’s involvement in all of this? And how can I get involved?
SLPC’s advocacy has a lot to do with jump-starting this project. Without pressure from the local community, this site would still be sitting dormant. It’s important for you to voice your demand that Six Lakes be fully remediated. You can sign a petition that does just that here. It’s also important for you to participate in upcoming visioning events and conversations about what you would like the end use of this property to be. We plan to hold another community meeting early in 2024 at which DEEP will provide more detailed information about results from the testing done onsite this past summer and fall. We’ll be telling you more about this and other events in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, if you’re reading this on someone else’s email, please hop onto our website and sign up to receive future communications direct from SLPC at http://sixlakespark.org/newsletter/ |
