Real estate developer The Salce Cos. LLC intends to build a self-storage facility at 576/600 E. Broadway in Stratford, Conn. The property is part of the contaminated areas included in the Raymark Superfund program, but the city has agreed to sell it for $250,000. Enabling the redevelopment of the land will allow the property back onto the city’s tax roll, according to the source.
Although the primary contamination area connected to waste from automotive-brake manufacturer Raymark Industries Inc. was a 34-acre site at 75 E. Main St., waste material was disposed at a minimum of 46 residential properties and numerous other commercial, recreational and municipal sites, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Wetlands were also affected. Contaminants included asbestos, copper, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls. Raymark ceased operation in 1989, and the Stratford Crossing Shopping Center was built on the Main Street site in the early 2000s.
The proposed self-storage site on East Broadway is considered to be part of a revitalized economic-development area on Ferry Boulevard, and the city is anxious to have the land contribute back to city coffers, the source reported.
“Having to manage the growth of our tax base with precious little available open space for development is a challenge,” Mayor John Harkins said in a released statement. “But this is an exact case of how we can be successful in economic development by cleaning up contaminated properties and getting them back on our tax rolls. I’d like to thank all of those involved with this project, including our economic-development department, the Redevelopment Authority, the developer, the EPA, [the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection] and the town council for their support in making this project a reality.”
Productive reuse of contaminated sites is the ultimate goal of the EPA’s superfund cleanup projects, according to Curt Spalding, regional administrator of the EPA’s New England office. “This positive action by Mayor Harkins and the Stratford Town Council will allow us to proceed with a final design and construction of a protective cap that will not only isolate and contain the Raymark waste—protecting citizens and the environment from exposure—but will enable the planned productive reuse of the property.”
No timeline for construction was provided in the report.
