Candia selectmen agree they need more information about the ash pile and debris at the town incinerator site in order to cap and close the area, but they remain divided on the best way to get the job done.

Selectmen Richard Snow, Joe Duarte and Amanda Soares walked the site last week with Department of Environmental Services Solid Waste Specialist Doug Kemp, who told the board members they need to know how much ash is there and whether it should be classified as solid waste or hazardous waste. And that will require a more methodical series of tests than the soil samples that Snow arranged to have collected and tested earlier this year. A composite analysis those samples showed levels of arsenic and lead well above the limits the state considers acceptable.

“It’s an unknown amount of material and we need to have it quantified and classified,” said Snow, referring to the ash that collected from an open burn pit at the site, and possibly also from the incinerator. “We need to take samples and come up with a better picture of what’s there.”

The problem is that the town has a $35,000 budget for the closure project that seems to be growing more complicated and potentially more expensive.

Snow and Duarte have expressed support for a $129,000 closure proposal from an Epping-based company, EnviroVantage, which submitted the lowest of three bids for the job.

Soares said when the board meets on Monday, Sept. 10, she plans to make a motion to reject all three bids and start from scratch. And Soares plans to propose dividing the project into several different stages and allowing different businesses to bid for pieces of the project.

“Frankly, I would like to have the town do everything piecemeal,” she said.

EnviroVantage representatives have said they would be willing to work with the town and divide the project into two phases. The first step, which would cost roughly $27,000, would remove the buildings as well as some cement at the site. The second step would depend on whether Candia voters approved another $100,000 in spending to remove and dispose of the ash, level the area, install a clay cap, cover it with loam and seed it.

Snow, who invited an EnviroVantage representative to tour the site with Kemp, said the company has taken a good look at the area and has estimated how much work is involved.

“I wanted to make sure he heard what Kemp was saying and that Kemp would hear what the company had in mind,” Snow said.

But Soares said the town should hire a local contractor who submitted a $3,000 bid to remove the buildings. She said the balance of the current $35,000 budget would cover additional tests and possibly some removal of the ash.

“I think we should take the lowest bid for removing the buildings, and when we start working on the ash portion, we should take bids just for the ash,” she said. “That way, we can figure out how much we have to spend as we go along.”

Candia residents have voted twice to remove the buildings from the site, and both Snow and Soares agree that part of the project should be a priority. But how to move along with the rest of the closure work isn’t as clear.

Snow said a decision needs to be made before DES steps in and takes over the project, leaving Candia with little control and a big bill.

But Soares, who spent nearly two years developing a closure plan for the site before Snow stepped in to explore alternatives, said DES has never boxed the town into any specific time frame.

“At one point, Doug Kemp told us it may take five years, or it could take 15 years,” said Soares. “DES is willing to work with us as long as the town is actively working toward closing the site.”