The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 14, 2024, the significant progress made at the Raymark Industries, Inc. Superfund Site under funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
EPA’s New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash was joined by members of the Connecticut Congressional Delegation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Mayor of Stratford and local community members to highlight the progress of the site.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Stratford, Connecticut site helped move the cleanup forward. EPA and its partners have completed the following projects:
- Remove and excavate more than 100,000 cubic yards of contamination;
- Clean up and restoration of 28 properties including 12 businesses;
- 1/3 of a mile of Ferry Creek cleaned, and working to restore the natural habitat by planting over and acre of wetland seed, live stakes and nearly 1,000 trees and shrubs;
- More than 10,000 air samples collected from 9 monitoring stations to confirm the air remained safe;
- Provided 30 to 50 jobs each workday including engineers, scientists, machine operators, laborers and truck drivers.
Officials were given a tour of the remediated properties to view the progress and participated in a roundtable conversation with local community members to discuss the positive impacts that the cleanup has had in the community.
The 34-acre Stratford site was added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1995. It was the location of Raymark Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of automotive breaks, clutch parts and other friction components. Raymark operated at this location from 1919 until 1989 when operations ceased. Contamination in area soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater were left behind.
The Raymark manufacturing waste was historically discharged to a series of unlined lagoons allowing chemicals to seep into the groundwater and overflow to a nearby creek.
