Site History:
The Site is located at 640 Hillside Avenue, Berlin, New Hampshire. The Site consists of three parcels; Lot 127-15 a 1.40-acre residential lot containing an abandoned home, and several shed like structures; Lot 127-14 a 0.36-acre vacant lot; and Lot 127-13 a 0.5-acre vacant lot. The Site was owned by Robert J. Lavoie who had lived on the property and had operated an unlicensed junkyard until his death in 2011. The Site is bordered to the west and east by Hillside Avenue, and to the north, east and south by residential properties.
At the request of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), EPA’s removal program conducted a removal Preliminary Assessment/Site Investigation (PA/SI) on June 17 and 18, 2019. Based on the results of the PA/SI, EPA determined that an action to remove soil contaminated with PCBs and/or lead was warranted. In August 2019, an Action Memorandum, authorizing the soil removal was approved.
Current Site Activity:
EPA is planning to be back on site the week of April 12th, 2021 to start preparing it for the resumption of the removal. This work is expected to take approximately five weeks and will include removing stockpiled contaminated soils and disposing of them at EPA approved off-site disposal facilities. Soil removal activities are scheduled to begin the week of April 19th, with hours of operation approximately Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 5:00pm each day. Trucks can be expected to be seen leaving the Site going down Hillside Ave. towards Russell St., down 1st Ave. to NH-16 South out of Berlin. Once the soil removal is complete, EPA will repair any response related damage, including establishing ground cover to minimize the potential of erosion. There are currently office trailers on site; they will continue to be used for the remainder of the removal action and will be removed upon completion. On-site workers will be wearing personal protective equipment, including wearing white Tyvek protective suits due to their daily direct contact with contaminated soils.
Work done to date includes:
In September 2020, EPA focused on site preparation, including improving Site access, clearing trees and other vegetation from the areas to be excavated and the area planned for stockpiling excavated soil.
From October through December 2020, EPA began excavating contaminated soil and staged the soil on Site. A layer of geotextile fabric was laid across the bottom of the excavated areas to serve as a visible indicator of the undisturbed soil. The areas were then backfilled with clean soil. Crushed stone was brought to the Site and used to create improved access for trucks.
On December 21, 2020, EPA temporarily suspended on Site activities due to winter weather conditions.
