WILTON — The Board of Selectmen recently approved the latest plan for a cleanup of tannery waste on the Wilton Tannery lot on Route 2.

The plan will be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection for approval, Nicholas Sabatine of Ransom Environmental of Portland told the board recently.

Sabatine, a geologist, and Jaime Madore, lead engineer for the project, presented the final plan after consideration of several ideas, he said. They were looking for the board’s input.

Waste left from tannery dumping will be consolidated in an area on the easterly back side of the property and covered, he said.

Once DEP approval is received, Sabatine said he expects to put the project out to bid to area contractors. A walk around the property will be scheduled around mid-May. It’s an opportunity for prospective contractors to see the scope of the work, he said.

According to the plan, bids are expected to be opened by the board on May 22 with the bid awarded at its June 3 meeting.

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The work is expected to be completed around the end of August.

Less movement of covered materials is expected with this plan rather than an earlier one, he said.

It will also improve the site for future development, Madore added. There will be a smaller area of waste.

While the contractors are at the site reviewing the work, they will be asked to consider an estimate for demolition costs for the building, Sabatine said.

It will provide good information for the town. Demolition would be up to the town. It’s not part of the Environmental Protection Agency project that is funding the waste dump cleanup, he added.

The town received a $200,000 federal EPA grant in 2012, and a total of $187,000 from the Maine DEP and the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development to clean up the site for future economic development.

Asbestos and an underground fuel tank were removed this past fall, Sabatine previously said. The $37,000 from DECD paid for it.

An area on the southeast section of the 15-acre property in East Wilton has a tannery landfill estimated at 60,000 square feet with waste depths ranging from 1 to 12 feet, Sabatine said. It includes leather scraps, barrel staves and other materials used in tanning from the late 1950s to mid-1990s. The ground shifts when walked on, he said at an earlier meeting.

abryant@sunjournal.com


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