PERU – A draft of the third attempt for a grant to clean up the old Diamond Match mill was discussed at a public hearing Monday night.
The grant proposal to the state Department of Environmental Protection contains two parts totaling close to $200,000. There is a request for $77,256 to clean up petroleum from the site and $122,744 to clean up hazardous substances, mostly asbestos.
River Valley Growth Council member Bill Hine said the council feels confident of getting the grant. New state requirements ask for an inventory of all contaminants on the site, and this was completed in April 2004. The property was acquired through a donation in 2003, and is situated on Mill Road at the border of Peru and Dixfield, on the Peru side of the Androscoggin River. The site has 1,000 feet of river frontage and has a potential for development. The river frontage will continue to remain open to the public.
The mill ran from 1934 until 1988, manufacturing small wood products.
Since the mill closed, the site has been largely abandoned except for a 9,000-square-foot building that is being used as a recycling transfer station.
The council’s strategy is to redevelop the site and attract a bio-refinery that would produce, from renewable sources, chemicals and fuels that would displace the use of petroleum and decrease emissions and greenhouse gases. Wood products would be used as fuel in the factory.
Development of the site would also expand the local tax base and could produce 120 jobs, many being skilled professionals.
The grant must be submitted by Dec. 14 and Hine said the council should hear from the state by April 2006.
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