NORWAY — A public hearing will be held Thursday to detail the results of water and land testing at the former Color Center site on Main Street.

In December, officials and residents were told that an environmental review of the property at 250 Main St. would be conducted to determine the potential impact of chemicals released during a 2003 fire and to identify any off site impacts from an adjacent gasoline station.

The second-phase environmental study involved water and land testing. The project was paid for with a $200,000 federal grant to the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.

The Color Center was one of two sites that underwent a Phase 1 site assessment last year to identify the type, quantity and extent of potential contamination based on information obtained from property records, interviews and site visits.

The second site, the Advertiser-Democrat building on the corner of Pikes Hill and Main Street, which also houses the Norway bureau of the Sun Journal, did not undergo further testing because of limited funding.

Rich Campbell of the Campbell Environmental Group said at the December public hearing that he did not expect to find any major problems at the Color Center site.

Campbell was not available Tuesday to discuss the outcome of the latest study.

According to an earlier study, if any problems are found at the Color Center site, they may affect the basement of an adjacent building, utility manholes in the Main and Greenleaf street area and Bird Brook, which is about 200 feet down grade of the property.

No cleanup funds are available for private landowners. The program provides the owner with a letter that clears the land for certain activity under the Voluntary Response Action program.

ldixon@sunjournal.com

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