Second Unexpected Tank Discovered at DePaolo During Construction

When digging under the soccer field at DePaolo Middle School last week, construction workers were met with an unexpected thud as machinery crashed into an unmapped and unused septic tank, the second tank to be found as part of Southington’s middle school renovation project.

Edward Pocock Jr., chairman of the Middle School Building Committee, said Wednesday that the discovery will require an added cost for removal, but was already filled in with soil and contained no contaminants or sewage and will have a minimal impact on the project.

“We don’t have any estimate at this time as to what the cost for removal will be, but there is nothing harmful there. It still needs to be taken out,” Pocock said. “We have some contingency built in to the budget to protect us and we are hopeful at this point it won’t cost much to remove. In the meantime, the tank has been staked off.”

The discovery comes less than a year after research led construction managers with Newfield Construction and staff with Hygenix, Inc., to find an undocumented and previously leaking oil tank on the property.

The first discovery led officials to realize some ground contamination from the #4 fuel oil that leaked and forced costs in excess of $100,000 on the project. The second discovery, however, is expected to cost far less, according to Pocock.

Committee member Christopher Palmieri said he understands that the discovery “is not ideal,” but said the right thing to do is move it and do it right now rather than leave the problem for future generations. He said the committee would continue to monitor the situation closely and make sure the project stays on schedule and on budget.

“We are constantly vigilant of (time constraints),” he said. “Our first priority is to make sure the work is not only done for children to go back in time in August, but that is done safely and done right. We will monitor this and we will be conducting air tests inside before the school is reopened.”

Palmieri said Wednesday that the committee is also monitoring a situation with the DePaolo gym floors. The floors have had a buckling problem over the past decade, he said, but to address the issue, the town must first find the cause.

“We don’t want to simply replace the floorboards and have an issue crop up again five years or ten years down the road,” he said.

As of right now, even with the work, Pocock said the project remains on schedule and will continue to move forward with appropriate solutions for any problems that may develop.

“We are committed to doing this right and making sure this is a project the town can be proud of,” he said.

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