Broad Brook Mill Site Withdrawn From Superfund Priority List

EAST WINDSOR, CT — After being listed for more than two decades on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), the site of the former Broad Brook Mill was formally de-proposed Friday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Removal from the list indicates cleanup goals have been attained, and the site does not pose a significant threat to human health and the environment.

Built in the 1830s, the Broad Brook Company purchased the property behind 110 Main Street in 1849, and continued manufacturing until 1951. In order to provide power for the woolen mill, the company operated a coal gasification plant on a portion of the site, which resulted in contamination of the site with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as coal gasification by-products, according to the EPA.

Other companies operated at the site from the mid-1950s through 1982, including manufacturers of printed circuit boards and boron filament. The processes used to manufacture the circuit boards released volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), and metals into the site soils, groundwater, and possibly the brook., according to the EPA.

On May 2, 1985, the site was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places. The following May, a fire destroyed many of the former mill buildings. Two months after the fire, the owners, Connecticut Building Corporation, applied for a permit to develop 21 residential condominium units in the former mill building which survived the blaze.

The building was converted into the Millbrook Condominiums in the early 1990s, but by 1998, condo owners began filing lawsuits against the developers due to the presence of toxic contaminants in the soil, including coal tar, cyanide, lead and mercury. The condos were shut down in the early 2000s, and the area has been fenced off since. It was proposed to the NPL in 2000.

Through a review of the site and discussions with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP), the EPA has determined significant progress has been and continues to be made in cleaning up the site. Although the remedy for the site is not fully implemented, the site poses no current risk to human health, according to an EPA statement.

"EPA’s action [Friday] is in large part a result of CTDEEP’s leadership along with the Town of East Windsor’s and the Potentially Responsible Party’s cooperation to fully investigate and clean up the Broad Brook Mill Site," EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro said in a written statement.

East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza added, "This is welcomed news. While there is still much work to be done to return the parcel to its highest and best use, the withdrawal of EPA from the remediation sends a strong signal that the efforts of Raytheon, CTDEEP and the Town are moving in the right direction. We appreciate the guidance and collaboration shown by EPA concerning this important work."

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