Members of the Middle School Building Committee are faced with a dilemma; one that could potentially cost the town thousands in environmental analysis and pollution remediation costs.
A recent report discovered during analysis of pollution and environmental conditions at the DePaolo Middle School revealed that a 10,000-gallon fuel tank underneath the grounds of the Pleasant Street school suffered a “significant leak in 1980,” but aside from a groundwater contamination report, details of the leak and any remediation taken have remained largely unavailable due to lack of documentation.
The report, provided by Hygenix Inc. Environmental Consultant and Laboratory Services of Stamford, indicates that the bottom seam of the tank gave way, releasing 5,000-gallons of fuel oil into the ground.
“Records indicated that some kind of groundwater investigation was conducted after the spill in August 1980 by others, such as installation and observation of wells and a recovery well for the monitoring and recovery of the product,” the report states. “However, there was no available documentation or information regarding soils remediation and further investigation. No tank closure report was available.”
The unexpected findings have created a challenge that has left members of the committee and town officials at a loss.
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Edward Pocock II, chairman of the committee, said this week that the town has entered negotiations regarding remediation discovery, but further information is not yet available. The level of contamination still remaining may not be available for several weeks, he said.
“We expect to have more of a timeline in the next week, but we’re still missing a lot of information,” Pocock said.
James Twitchell, a project manager for Hygenix, told the committee this week that the company has identified through the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that the initial recovery response was provided by New England Pollution Control. The details of the response and level of contamination found were not available however.
The only local documentation regarding the 1980 spill is an initial tank notification form, available through the Southington Fire Department, route: {:controller=>"listings", :action=>"show", :id=>"southington-fire-department"} -->. There is no further documentation, Twitchell said.
Furthermore, the Hygenix report indicates that there is concern that ground contamination could still exist. According to the draft report, , the renovation plan includes the removal of the replacement tank located in the same place on the eastern side of the school and any soil contamination would need to be addressed at that time.
“The existing (underground storage tank) is located in the same vicinity of the former tank that had a significant leak in 1980,” according to the report. “The soil condition in this area from the historic release has not been addressed.”
