Community continues to grapple with aftermath from nor’easter

By Kendra Raymond

Even though winter has officially passed, area property owners are still dealing with the repercussions of several extreme weather events that ravaged the area. Both the late December windstorm and the surprise late-winter nor’easter on April 4 inflicted damage on many parts of the Windham/Raymond area and knocked out power for more than 48 hours.

Storm clean-up is continuing at Sebago Lake State Park. The
damage left by the April 4 nor'easter is extreme and clean-up
efforts are slow but steady across the Lakes Region.
PHOTO BY BRUCE SMALL 

While some ambitious homeowners are brave enough to tackle property cleanup on their own, others are unable to safely restore their site to pre-storm conditions. A lot of locals are finding a sense of community, sharing, and assistance through various social media outlets.

Raymond resident Bruce Small recently visited Sebago Lake State Park and was astounded by the damage he saw.

“The lake is very high with lots of erosion from the winter and spring storms,” Small said in a social media post. “The last big snowstorm devastated the area. There are trees and big limbs down everywhere! It’s really sad! It’s going to take an enormous amount of work to clean things up!”

Other property owners report more branches down than normal and are looking for recommendations for arborists or other landscape professionals to hire. Community members are coming together to share resources and support.

In another social media post Heather Fontaine-Doyle, a Raymond resident, said that her yard looked downright apocalyptic.

“The road in has a bunch of broken and bent trees and limbs down as well,” she said. “Still contemplating having someone come in for a spring cleanup since it was already a mess before the last storm, but at least we have the big limbs in piles now.”

Both Windham and Raymond Public Works Departments are working to remove tree limbs and other debris posing hazards to motorists, but the damage to private property across the area is beyond the scope of their duties.

Do I need a permit?

It is always best to check with the Code Enforcement Officer in your town if there is a question about permits. In general, anything considered “storm cleanup” is fine to remove, especially for safety reasons. An arborist can be a great resource since they are licensed and trained in the proper rules in your community. If they are performing work on your property, an arborist will obtain all necessary permits.

Small steps make progress

While it can seem daunting to face your post-storm yard damage, it is important not to become overwhelmed or attempt too much at once. Some broken trees can be quite dangerous to deal with and are best left to a professional with the proper training and equipment. For smaller jobs, a “brush clean up party” where everyone lends a hand could be helpful, then reward everyone with some burgers on the grill afterward? Another method may be to inquire with the local schools to see if students may be looking for volunteer hours.

Disposal options

For those brave souls ambitious enough to dig in and tackle the mess, there are a few great options right in the area. It would be helpful to have a pickup truck or trailer to move the debris off-site. Trailers can be rented on a daily or weekly basis.

The Town of Windham opens its leaf and brush disposal area twice a year in the spring and fall for a limited period. Its website asks that leaves be kept separate from the brush and disposed of in the appropriate areas as the posted signs indicate. If you transport your leaves in bags, please remove them from the bags and take the bags with you upon leaving. Brush being disposed there can be no larger than 12 inches in diameter.

The Windham Bush Disposal Site is located at the end of Enterprise Drive, off Route 302 in North Windham. It will close at 6 p.m. Sunday, May 12 and not reopen again until the fall.

The Casco/Naples Bulky Waste and Transfer Station is available to residents of Casco and Naples with a sticker. It is available to non-residents to pay with cash. Brush up to 6 inches is accepted and the cost depends on weight. The Transfer Station is located at 425 Leach Hill Road in Casco. Hours are from 7 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Businesses that process mulch can also be another worthwhile option to consider as home and property owners search for disposal options. This “green” solution helps the environment and puts that pesky brush to good use. <

Windham’s Keddy Mill site to be cleaned up, demolished

By Ed Pierce 

A long awaited project to tear down the former Keddy Mill
industrial building at 7 Depot St. in South Windham along
with cleaning up the site and removing contaminants there
will be starting this fall. The site work will be funded by a
federal Superfund program administered by the EPA to
safeguard human health and the environment
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE.    

An agreement has been reached to clean up and demolish the old Keddy Mill site in South Windham under an initiative to protect human health and the environment.

Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ITT LLC, the company responsible for the 6.93-acre site and structure off Depot Street in South Windham, say that the former industrial building on the site will be razed and contaminated materials there will be removed.

Testing has determined that the two-story concrete industrial structure on the property contains elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, and other contaminants known to pose a risk to human health and the environment.

Located at 7 Depot St., the crumbling two-story concrete building at the site is thought to have been built in the early 20th century, although mill operations at that location date to the mid-1800s. Throughout the site’s history, several buildings have been constructed there and added to the mill complex.

Originally the mill was used as a grist and carding mill before being converted to a pulp mill, a box-board manufacturing facility and a steel mill. The site is in a mixed commercial/residential area in South Windham and is bounded by Depot Street to the north, a former Maine Central Railroad right-of-way to the east, and undeveloped property and the Presumpscot River to the south, and by Route 202/Main Street and an operational hydroelectric facility to the west. 

Use of the site for various industrial activities began in 1875, with its primary industrial use being for metal fabrication starting in 1945. The Keddy Mill Company began a metal manufacturing operation there in the 1960s which continued into the 1970s. Through the process of transforming scrap metal into products, electrical capacitors and transformers containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used there.

The building itself at 7 Depot St. sits on a concrete/soil foundation and contains a full basement. The EPA reports that no wells or known private drinking water sources are situated close to the location.

Under the Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order on Consent reached between the EPA and the responsible party, the cleanup work will be done in compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, commonly known as the "Superfund," and ensures that the cleanup will protect human health and the environment. Cleanup work is expected to be phased, initially consisting of pre-design investigation activities, beginning this year.

"EPA is very pleased that after years of assessment and discussion with the community, we are moving into a significant stage of recovery and reclamation of this site," said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. "The upcoming building demolition and removal of contaminated materials is an important step in the lengthy process of returning a Superfund site to productive use in a community."

The property was first listed on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites in 2014. The Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country to protect people's health and the environment.

Initial EPA actions there were launched in the 1980s. Data was collected during these investigations, as well a fuel oil spill, resulting in two previous cleanup actions performed at the site. In 1997, an action to remove nearly 11 tons of petroleum-impacted soil from the north-central portion of the property was conducted in accordance with Maine Department of Environmental Protection requirements. In 2010, a second cleanup action removed accessible PCB-contaminated fuel oils in piping and PCB-contaminated sludge, dirt, debris, and oil materials within the buildings on the site.

EPA completed a thorough site investigation in January 2013 and a Hazard Ranking System package in April 2013. Following that, the Keddy Mill site was placed on the NPL Superfund list in May 2014. A Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study was initiated there in 2015 to determine the nature and extent of contamination and the risks posed to human health and the environment and evaluate alternative cleanup measures if necessary.

An Action Memorandum for a Non-time Critical Removal Action was signed by EPA and ITC LLC in 2018. That required that contaminated building materials must be removed from the site and sent to an off-site licensed hazardous waste site facility. The primary building contaminants exceeding acceptable human health standards included polychorinated biphenals (PCBs) and asbestos.

Windham Town Council Chair Jarrod Maxfield said the cleanup announcement is welcome news for South Windham residents.

“Ever since I started in town government, I have been hearing about the Keddy Mill and the eventual cleanup that will happen,” Maxfield said. “This is the first of many steps to clean that site, redevelop it and open more opportunities for South Windham to become the vibrant, mixed-use community it once was and will be again.” <