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August 23. 2012 12:36AM
Candia prepping for fight over closing incinerator site
CANDIA — A new information page on the proposed incinerator site closure was launched on Candia’s website this week so residents on both side of the debate can get ready for Monday’s Board of Selectmen meeting.
Selectman Richard Snow posted a series of letters, applications, draft proposals and other official papers that trace some of the history of the proposal to close the incinerator site and ash pit. One document that residents are particularly interested in, the results of tests that show levels of lead and arsenic found at the site, has not been posted yet.
On the website, Snow explained the documents are “intended to ensure transparency in the process, and allow each member of the public to reach their own informed conclusions about a complex, contentious and potentially costly process that is currently being discussed, debated and reported in the press.”
Town officials and residents have been sharply divided on the scope of the work and the size of the bill for the incinerator site closure.
Selectman Amanda Soares proposed a $35,000 closure plan, approved by the State Department of Environmental Services, that would remove the incinerator building and the old Swap Shop, dispose of the incinerator stack and capped the ash from a pit where residents were allowed to burn brush and clean wood for years.
Soares described her proposal as a basic plan that would accomplish the main goals and stay within the project’s budget. But last March Soares’ plan was shelved and Snow took over. Now, Snow and selectmen Joe Duarte and David Depuy are leaning toward a $129,000 bid from an Epping-based company, EnviroVantage, to clean up the site, raze the buildings, level, grade and cap the area with clay, loom and eventually plant grass.
North Road resident Rudolph Cartier, who has years of experience working with DES and has helped gather information to design a new closure plan, said the change in direction came last spring when selectmen decided to take down the berms. At the time, selectmen also collected and tested eight samples of ash and soil.
“The results came back and showed high levels of lead and arsenic,” said Cartier, who added the hazardous waste exceeded levels allowed in the landfill. Selectmen then started looking at a closure plan that would remove hazardous waste before capping the site.
Soares said she has asked for the test results, but hasn’t seen them yet. Still, the plan was changed to remove some of the ash because of the contaminants.
Doug Kemp, a waste management specialist for DES, also said ash from the burn pit, which has been estimated to be about 10 cubic yards, needs to be removed and taken to a permanent disposal site.
But Soares and Kemp have said the expensive cleanup and disposal work for the closure can be limited to the ash and the remainder of the site can be covered and left to heal naturally.
“It’s not an environmental issue and it isn’t complicated,” said Kemp who added that if DES thought the site was a health hazard, the agency would have stepped in.
The town has been monitoring and testing water from four wells near the site, and there have been no signs of any contamination.
Kemp said that beyond the ash pit, there isn’t much of a health concern for the public.
“Any ash is mixed and covered with fill and any potential for human contact with ash is minimal,” said Kemp who has overseen the closure of more than 120 solid-waste sites. “As long as the cover remains, there’s no reason why they can’t just leave the old dog and let it be.”
But selectmen have proposed leveling out and grading the site, possibly to prepare for phase II of their proposed plan which would develop a long-term use of the land. There has been some conversation about using the site for passive recreation such as walking and hiking.
The town currently has $35,000 for the closure, and EnviroVantage has agreed to divide the work into two stages with two separate contracts.
The first $27,000 stage would remove the buildings and break up some concrete. The company would be free to sell the metal buildings for scrap, which at different times have been estimated to be worth about $25,000.
The second stage would involve approximately $91,000 of site work and the spending would have to be approved by a Town Meeting vote. Representatives from EnviroVantage have explained they plan to use large magnets to collect buried scrap metal, which is believed to be the cause of elevated levels of arsenic and lead that selectmen say have been found at the site.
Since the 1950s, salvage companies have been mining landfills for their caches of scrap metal and other recoverable resources. Over the past decade, the booming growth of the $92 billion scrap metal market has made landfill mining a high-stakes endeavor. In some cases, landfills have yielded more metal than traditional mines, and some communities are beginning to see their old dumps as potential resources.
Landfill mining has also been successful in cleaning up hazardous sites and making room for years of future waste in landfills that were previously pack to capacity.
“We are trying to make sure the closure is done right and done in a fiscally responsible manner,” said Cartier who added that he understands why some people are concerned that the price of the closure project has jumped from $35,000 to $129,000.
But Soares and other residents question why the town won’t consider another bid of $6,000 to remove the buildings from the site rather than EnviroVantage’s $27,000 proposal for the first stage of the closure. Cartier said the less expensive proposal was not submitted in the initial response to the town’s request for bids and considering it now could be seen as a questionable business practice.
And other selectmen are reluctant to jeopardize ongoing negotiations with EnviroVantage, whose $129,000 price for the closure project was nearly $200,000 less that the other two bids that were submitted.
However, now that the project is being divided into two separate phases, possibly with two separate contracts, some residents believe that it’s appropriate to consider the less expensive bid.
“Nobody is using common sense,” said former selectman Carleton Robie, who supported Soares’ original closure plan. “But I think we’ve got people starting to look in the right direction.”
Robie and other residents believe the most practical approach is cap and close the area and give the site time.
“There’s nothing there that Mother Nature can’t take care of,” he said.
Still, others residents who favor the more extensive and expensive closure plan believe they are on the right track.
“A lot of people are looking strictly at the first cost but we need to look at the whole thing,” said Cartier. “People need to calm down and discuss things in a rational manner.”
And despite all the heated disagreements, Cartier pointed out that everybody has the same ultimate goal.
“The bottom line is everybody wants to get the place cleaned up,” he said.
Barbara Taormina may be reached at btaormina@newstote.com.
Selectman Richard Snow posted a series of letters, applications, draft proposals and other official papers that trace some of the history of the proposal to close the incinerator site and ash pit. One document that residents are particularly interested in, the results of tests that show levels of lead and arsenic found at the site, has not been posted yet.
On the website, Snow explained the documents are “intended to ensure transparency in the process, and allow each member of the public to reach their own informed conclusions about a complex, contentious and potentially costly process that is currently being discussed, debated and reported in the press.”
Town officials and residents have been sharply divided on the scope of the work and the size of the bill for the incinerator site closure.
Selectman Amanda Soares proposed a $35,000 closure plan, approved by the State Department of Environmental Services, that would remove the incinerator building and the old Swap Shop, dispose of the incinerator stack and capped the ash from a pit where residents were allowed to burn brush and clean wood for years.
Soares described her proposal as a basic plan that would accomplish the main goals and stay within the project’s budget. But last March Soares’ plan was shelved and Snow took over. Now, Snow and selectmen Joe Duarte and David Depuy are leaning toward a $129,000 bid from an Epping-based company, EnviroVantage, to clean up the site, raze the buildings, level, grade and cap the area with clay, loom and eventually plant grass.
North Road resident Rudolph Cartier, who has years of experience working with DES and has helped gather information to design a new closure plan, said the change in direction came last spring when selectmen decided to take down the berms. At the time, selectmen also collected and tested eight samples of ash and soil.
“The results came back and showed high levels of lead and arsenic,” said Cartier, who added the hazardous waste exceeded levels allowed in the landfill. Selectmen then started looking at a closure plan that would remove hazardous waste before capping the site.
Soares said she has asked for the test results, but hasn’t seen them yet. Still, the plan was changed to remove some of the ash because of the contaminants.
Doug Kemp, a waste management specialist for DES, also said ash from the burn pit, which has been estimated to be about 10 cubic yards, needs to be removed and taken to a permanent disposal site.
But Soares and Kemp have said the expensive cleanup and disposal work for the closure can be limited to the ash and the remainder of the site can be covered and left to heal naturally.
“It’s not an environmental issue and it isn’t complicated,” said Kemp who added that if DES thought the site was a health hazard, the agency would have stepped in.
The town has been monitoring and testing water from four wells near the site, and there have been no signs of any contamination.
Kemp said that beyond the ash pit, there isn’t much of a health concern for the public.
“Any ash is mixed and covered with fill and any potential for human contact with ash is minimal,” said Kemp who has overseen the closure of more than 120 solid-waste sites. “As long as the cover remains, there’s no reason why they can’t just leave the old dog and let it be.”
But selectmen have proposed leveling out and grading the site, possibly to prepare for phase II of their proposed plan which would develop a long-term use of the land. There has been some conversation about using the site for passive recreation such as walking and hiking.
The town currently has $35,000 for the closure, and EnviroVantage has agreed to divide the work into two stages with two separate contracts.
The first $27,000 stage would remove the buildings and break up some concrete. The company would be free to sell the metal buildings for scrap, which at different times have been estimated to be worth about $25,000.
The second stage would involve approximately $91,000 of site work and the spending would have to be approved by a Town Meeting vote. Representatives from EnviroVantage have explained they plan to use large magnets to collect buried scrap metal, which is believed to be the cause of elevated levels of arsenic and lead that selectmen say have been found at the site.
Since the 1950s, salvage companies have been mining landfills for their caches of scrap metal and other recoverable resources. Over the past decade, the booming growth of the $92 billion scrap metal market has made landfill mining a high-stakes endeavor. In some cases, landfills have yielded more metal than traditional mines, and some communities are beginning to see their old dumps as potential resources.
Landfill mining has also been successful in cleaning up hazardous sites and making room for years of future waste in landfills that were previously pack to capacity.
“We are trying to make sure the closure is done right and done in a fiscally responsible manner,” said Cartier who added that he understands why some people are concerned that the price of the closure project has jumped from $35,000 to $129,000.
But Soares and other residents question why the town won’t consider another bid of $6,000 to remove the buildings from the site rather than EnviroVantage’s $27,000 proposal for the first stage of the closure. Cartier said the less expensive proposal was not submitted in the initial response to the town’s request for bids and considering it now could be seen as a questionable business practice.
And other selectmen are reluctant to jeopardize ongoing negotiations with EnviroVantage, whose $129,000 price for the closure project was nearly $200,000 less that the other two bids that were submitted.
However, now that the project is being divided into two separate phases, possibly with two separate contracts, some residents believe that it’s appropriate to consider the less expensive bid.
“Nobody is using common sense,” said former selectman Carleton Robie, who supported Soares’ original closure plan. “But I think we’ve got people starting to look in the right direction.”
Robie and other residents believe the most practical approach is cap and close the area and give the site time.
“There’s nothing there that Mother Nature can’t take care of,” he said.
Still, others residents who favor the more extensive and expensive closure plan believe they are on the right track.
“A lot of people are looking strictly at the first cost but we need to look at the whole thing,” said Cartier. “People need to calm down and discuss things in a rational manner.”
And despite all the heated disagreements, Cartier pointed out that everybody has the same ultimate goal.
“The bottom line is everybody wants to get the place cleaned up,” he said.
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Barbara Taormina may be reached at btaormina@newstote.com.