Durham Meadows Hearing Tonight

Federal environmental officials plan to remove contaminated soil from the former Merriam Manufacturing Company site on Main Street in Durham this summer, a move that will bring the polluted property one step closer to getting off the government’s Superfund list.

Work on the project is expected to begin in April and will entail clearing the overgrown site, demolishing an old warehouse on the property, cleaning up debris that remains there and then removing the contaminated soils, said Anni Loughlin, a project manager with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Details of the work, including information on the site’s history, will be discussed at a public hearing tonight that the town is hosting. The hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Durham Public Library and state and federal officials will be available to answer questions from the audience.

Previous environmental investigations of the so-called Durham Meadows site have identified several possible sources of the contamination, including Merriam Manufacturing and the Durham Manufacturing Company.

The EPA and state environmental officials determined that wastewater containing dissolved organic solvents and paint were dumped in lagoons at the site from 1973 to 1982. In another area, paint wastes and degreasing solvents were stored above ground in metal drums.

Merriam Manufacturing, which made metal boxes, ceased operating in Durham after a 1998 fire destroyed its facilities. Durham Manufacturing, which also makes metal boxes, continues to operate on Main Street.

Studies conducted by the EPA and DEP several years ago found that groundwater supplies in the Main Street area were contaminated with a chemical called 1,4-Dioxane. Some 22 private wells were also found to be contaminated with that chemical and those homes and businesses now use a combination of bottled water and charcoal filters.

Loughlin said the soil removal project, however, is being pursued in order to mitigate lead contamination at the site, a surprising discovery federal officials made about two years ago while doing tests at the site.

Once the property, which encompasses nearly 3 acres and includes a residential property at 275 Main St., is cleared of all brush and debris the contaminated soil will be removed, Loughlin said. After that work is completed, she added, workers will bring clean fill into the site.

“It’s not like there’s going to be a big hole there,” she said.

Workers will install new landscaping at the property, Loughlin said. The bulk of the work will be completed this year, she said, though some finish landscaping might have to wait until next year.

One of the last owners of Merriam Manufacturing willed the Main Street property to the town when he died several years ago. However, the property remains in limbo because it has not yet cleared the probate court process, Loughlin said.

The orginal story was published on Patch on Feb. 9.