U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Community Update #4 
Eastland Woolen Mill Superfund Site 
Corinna, Maine 
November 1999

Overview

Since the last public information meeting, held on August 5th, EPA has moved quickly to complete the first stages of its two part cleanup program at the Eastland Woolen Mill Superfund Site.

EPA is implementing two cleanup phases simultaneously. These phases are the:

• Early Cleanup {or, Non-Time Critical Removal Action (NTCRA)} Remedial Investigation and
• Feasibility Study (RI/FS).

The goal of EPA's early cleanup/NTCRA is to remove the source of contamination in soils, thereby reducing the amount of contamination that is migrating into the groundwater and the East Branch of the Sebasticook River. 

The purpose of EPA's RI/FS is to determine the extent and types of contamination in soils, sediments, surface water, ground water, air, and/or fish at the site. This work is important information to evaluate possible long-term cleanup solutions. 


Make Plans to Attend the following two events on Tuesday, November 16, 1999:

1. Public Information Meeting!
Presenters:
U.S. EPA
&
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

When: 
Tuesday, November 16, 1999 7:00 p.m.

Where: 
Corinna American Legion Hall

2. ATSDR Public Availability Session
2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - November 16

Corinna American Legion Hall

ATSDR staff will be available to talk with residents one-on-one about their health concerns related to contamination at the Eastland Woolen Mill. Individual conversations with ATSDR staff will be confidential.
the November 16 public information meeting, and a summary of EPA's work progress and timeline. 

Come to the November 16 Public Information Meeting!

During the first half of this informational meeting, EPA will present the current status and timeline for both the early cleanup and RI/FS phases.

For the second half of the meeting, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will briefly present its plans to conduct a health assessment for the site, followed by an open discussion with residents about health concerns related to site contamination.

ATSDR To Begin Public Health Assessment

ATSDR, a public health agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is developing a public health assessment for the Eastland Woolen Mill Superfund Site. ATSDR conducts a public health assessment for every site placed on or proposed to be placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). (The NPL is EPA's list of uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for possible long-term cleanup under the Superfund Program. The Eastland Woolen Mill Site was placed on the NPL in July 1999.)

ATSDR's public health assessments review information about hazardous substances at a site, and evaluate whether past, present, or future exposure to those substances could harm people in the site area. 

These assessments also identify health studies or other public health actions such as community environmental health education that might be needed. They advise federal, state, and local agencies on actions to prevent or reduce people's exposure to hazardous substances. (Please see the attached fact sheet for more information about ATSDR public health assessments.) 

At the November 16 public information meeting, ATSDR will discuss its plans for its public health assessment at the site and would like to discuss concerns that Corinna residents may have about the site's impact on their health. 

For additional information about ATSDR's site activities or upcoming visit to Corinna, please contact Susanne Simon, ATSDR Regional Representative at 
(617) 918-1492, or toll-free at 
1-888-422-8737.

How will EPA use the ATSDR report?

EPA will consider the findings of the ATSDR public health assessment as part of evaluating the need for further cleanup activities at the site. 

However, as a component of the RI/FS, EPA will prepare a Human Health Risk Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment. EPA will use the findings from these studies as the primary basis for determining the need for, and extent, of further cleanup work at the site. 

EPA's Human Health Risk Assessment uses data collected during the Remedial Investigation to evaluate potential effects on human health that could result from current or future exposure to chemicals detected at the site. The Ecological Risk Assessment answers the question, "How does groundwater, surface water, and soil contamination impact the health of plants and animals in the surrounding environment?" 

What has EPA accomplished thus far in the field study program?

EPA's on-site laboratory and field office is up and running! Through some hard work and ingenuity, EPA worked with town officials to partially refurbish the abandoned home at 23 St. Albans Road in Corinna, just behind the mill complex. This house will serve as EPA's Eastland Woolen Mill Superfund Site field headquarters throughout the life of the cleanup project.

Since late summer 1999, scientists conducting the field study program have collected:

• numerous soil samples from the areas between the mill complex and the railroad trestle;
• sediment and surface water samples from the Sebasticook River, Corundel Lake, and downstream to the mouth of Sebasticook Lake;
• information about how river contamination may impact plants and animals that live in the river;
• groundwater samples from former and existing water supply wells, and monitoring wells installed as part of this program.
  

EPA began a second phase of soil borings and well installations on November 8, which should continue for several weeks. This program will focus on the most contaminated pockets in the river, and will expand EPA's study of contamination in the bedrock aquifer. 

EPA anticipates that the initial field activities will be complete by the end of December 1999. EPA will then evaluate the data and information collected from the site and develop a plan for continued field studies in spring/summer 2000.

What has EPA found to this point in the study?

Sediments and Soils

The first wave of sampling results from 380 locations in the East Branch of the Sebasticook River and floodplains, starting at the mill and continuing for about 1.25 miles downstream, indicate that:

• contamination in the river appears to occur in pockets. This pattern seems to be consistent with wool fibers and chemicals that settled out of mill waste discharges as they passed downstream during the Eastland Woolen Mill's operation. Many of these pockets of contamination have been detected between the Eastland Woolen Mill and the old Moosehead Mill. Additional pockets of contamination were detected near the old dump.
• volatile organic compounds, predominantly chlorobenzenes and some fuel oils related to the former Eastland Woolen Mill facility, are present in sediments and floodplain samples taken along the river channel. 
• substantial contamination exists in soils above the bedrock, directly beneath and adjacent to the Eastland Woolen Mill. 
• contamination extends further down river than initially thought. Most of the soil contamination from Main Street to Moosehead Mill is confined close to the banks of the river channel. Much of this contamination is highest near the surface, with some isolated areas of deeper contamination (down to 14 feet below the ground surface).

 
Groundwater/Residential Wells

EPA monitoring well sampling results currently indicate that:

• contamination has migrated deep into the bedrock system in some locations near the former Eastland Woolen Mill. This contamination extends very deep into the bedrock.
• aquifer tests show that the bedrock system is well connected.
• contaminant levels in residential wells are relatively unchanged from EPA's previous sampling events.
  
  

Aquatic Organisms

EPA performed tests of river organisms, such as worms and larvae, and aquatic plants to evaluate how these organisms respond to various levels of contamination in the river sediments and water. The initial results of these tests indicate that many of the organisms die when exposed to relatively low levels of contamination. This information will be used to help develop a long-term cleanup program that protects these river organisms, and thus the river ecosystem as a whole.

-----------------------
Once EPA has completed its initial field investigation , EPA will develop a report summarizing the study findings. EPA will use these results to plan continued work, as well as direct the soil cleanup program in the river as part of the comprehensive early cleanup.

Early Cleanup/NTCRA Progress

Building Demolition

In addition to the RI/FS studies, EPA has also tasked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to perform the early cleanup at the site. ACE contracted with Roy F. Weston, Inc. to perform the building demolition and soil cleanup work as part of the early cleanup at the site.

Cianbro Corporation out of Pittsfield, Maine has won the contract to remove asbestos from and demolish mill buildings.

Beginning this month, EPA contractors will phase the demolition project by removing asbestos and hazardous materials from some portions of the mill buildings. EPA will safely package hazardous materials and transport them to appropriate disposal facilities. 

EPA plans to begin mill building demolition after Christmas and anticipates that the entire demolition program will be completed by the end of April 2000, making way for the soil excavation and treatment program. 

Soil Cleanup

EPA anticipates starting contaminated soil removal and treatment by mid-June 2000. EPA is currently working with ACE to develop plans for this work using scientific information from the ongoing RI/FS field investigation program. EPA is also planning the soil cleanup in coordination with the Town of Corinna Revitalization Plan, which was released in October 1999. 

EPA Community Outreach Program

During summer 1999, EPA collaborated with students from the Nokomis Regional High School Science Honors class to develop, distribute, and analyze a community survey. The purpose of this survey was to learn more about how Corinna residents perceive the history of the Eastland Woolen Mill and EPA's proposed Superfund cleanup. Honors students volunteered to help EPA with this project to learn more about how skills and concepts learned in the classroom can be applied in a real case.

Braving the threat of a summer thunderstorm, honors students marched from door-to-door throughout various Corinna neighborhoods to conduct the survey. Surveys were also distributed at a public information meeting. In all, about 100 surveys were completed. 

This month, Nokomis honors students will submit an analysis of the survey results to EPA. Students are applying statistical tests to evaluate how the survey was developed, distributed, and interpreted. They will also develop recommendations for community outreach strategies that best address the specific concerns and needs of Corinna residents.

EPA will use this analysis to write a community relations strategy and plan future community outreach activities. The final community relations plan document will be available at Corinna Town Offices by the New Year.

EPA needs your help!

Over the last few months, vandals have damaged sampling equipment, destroyed EPA field markers that identify sampling locations along the river, and removed sampling devices from the river. This vandalism interferes with EPA's work, and could present dangers to both EPA workers and vandals. 

So, when you walk or drive by the mill, EPA asks that you keep a closer eye on the mill property and river and report any unusual behavior to EPA at one of the numbers listed below.

In addition, over the next month, EPA will begin removing hazardous materials and asbestos from the mill, to be followed by demolition of the mill structure around Christmas. 

Effective immediately, EPA is posting a No Trespassing Warning to protect site visitors from the hazards associated with this work. Please visit EPA's field office at 23 St. Albans Road, or dial (207) 278-7411 if you have questions about site trespassing. 

Thanks for your help!

If you have questions or concerns about the Eastland Woolen Mill Site, please contact one of the following officials:

U.S. EPA

Technical Questions:

Ed Hathaway, Project Manager
(617) 918-1372
hathaway.ed@epa.gov

Community Outreach:
Erin Heskett, Public Affairs
(617) 918-1054
heskett.erin@epa.gov

Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Rebecca Hewett
(207) 287-8554
rebecca.l.hewett@state.me.us

Town of Corinna 
Judy Doore
(207) 278-4183
corinna@tdstelme.net


Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)

PerStephanie Thompson
Toll-free: 1-888-422-8737

Susanne Simon
Regional Office
(617) 918-1492

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