Source: http://www.ctpost.com, March 31, 2015
By: John Burgeson and Keila Torres Ocasio
Federal officials on Monday made a more than $100 million commitment to clean up the contaminated soil that is the centurylong legacy of the Raybestos company.
The consensus agreement on a “comprehensive cleanup” of the Raymark Superfund site in Stratford was more than a decade in the making.
“This is truly a historic agreement because we’ve been working on this issue for decades,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “We need to continue to keep up persistence on this. The key word here in enforcement — enforcement of our environmental laws.”
Stratford Mayor John A. Harkins said more than half of the Raymark waste, or about 52 percent, will be removed from Stratford altogether, including the most hazardous of the known waste. The remainder will be consolidated or capped.
The effort is to be paid for by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Raybestos Field
The agreement, officials said, will mean that one day soon, the long-abandoned ballfield on Frog Pond Road, the first home of the Raybestos Brakettes (now called the Stratford Brakettes) will be suitable for commercial development.
“Getting more than half of the waste removed from our town and having a safe, capped, consolidated ballfield that can be reused for a suitable commercial or industrial entity is also a win for Stratford,” Harkins said.
Harkins was joined by Blumenthal, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, EPA Region One Administrator Curt Spalding, state DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee and other officials in announcing the deal at Town Hall.
“The EPA appreciates the hard work and good will from all parties to achieve this plan,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, in a statement. “There’s more work to do, but we now have a road map to complete the cleanup and make a real environmental and economic difference for the people of Stratford.”
Officials said the agreement will address the Raymark waste in residential, commercial and recreational properties, including Ferry Creek and groundwater that seeps from the former Raymark facility. In addition to the old Raybestos softball field, the EPA estimated there is Raymark waste in a least 46 residential lots around town. This is because the contaminated soil was either sold or given to developers as fill.
Many of these homes were fitted with basement ventilation systems similar to those used when radon gas is suspected.
Officials assured residents that all possible steps would be taken to make the cleanup as safe and as convenient as possible. Also, neighbors will be told of any soil removal activity well in advance.
In addition to asbestos, the Raymark waste is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos and lead.
“There will be regular neighborhood meetings before, during and after the construction project,” Harkins said, “and early notification and extensive coordination with property owners in advance of cleanup on their properties.”
He said the first public meeting will likely take place in September.
Officials said “state of the art” dust suppression protocols will be used.
Still, some sites will be disturbed for as long as two years as crews haul away as much contaminated soil as possible. Officials said the contaminants leeching into Ferry Creek, an inlet of the Housatonic River along Ferry Boulevard, also will be addressed.
Spaulding said the difference between this plan and previous ones is the EPA is now making the cleanup a priority. “My team has already engaged the Superfund administrators in Washington, and the conversations are underway already,” he said.
Blumenthal, however, noted that the plan is dependent on the federal government putting funding for the cleanup in its budget. “This will be a continuing fight and we need to be prepared for that fight,” he said.
Spaulding said because funding must be in place, public hearings held and designs completed, he doesn’t expect any action on the site until at least 2017.
Industrial history
Raymark was founded in 1902 as the A.H. Raymond Co., and it soon changed its name to Raybestos Industries. The company invented the woven brake lining in 1906, one of the landmark developments in the technology needed to stop moving vehicles and rotating parts.
In the 1940s and 1950s, just about every car, truck, train and airplane had Raybestos brakes and other parts, and the company developed a friction clutch that was used in many automatic transmissions. The company also had a large stake in the aftermarket parts business.
In 1978, the name was changed again to the Raybestos Friction Materials Co., and it was about this time that Raybestos began weathering the first of what was to become scores of lawsuits filed by victims of asbestos-related diseases.
About that time, it switched to making brake pads and shoes out of other materials.
The company changed its name to Raymark in 1982, a move made to get out from under the crushing cost of litigation brought by the victims of lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos particles. There was also another holding company created in 1989, Raytech, also as a way of avoiding litigation, according to the law firms that took on asbestos lawsuits. These efforts to obfuscate the lawsuits with name changes were unsuccessful.
Raymark became bankrupt in the mid-1980s, and Raytech declared bankruptcy in 1989, which is when manufacturing operations ceased in Stratford.
In 1995 the Raytech Corporation Asbestos Personal Injury Trust was created, and it began processing claims in 2010.
The Raymark plant site on East Main Street, along with other sites around town where contaminated fill was dumped, were declared federal Superfund sites in 1995.