Brownfields and Sustainable Materials
Management
Success Story
EPA Grant Recipient:
Bellows Falls ADC
Grant Types:
Multipurpose,
Revolving Loan Fund
Former Uses:
paper factory and machine
shop
Current Use:
awaiting commercial
redevelopment
Robertson Paper Mill
Bellows Foils,
Vermont
The redevelopment of this former paper company in Bellows Falls is a
model for how construction and demolition can be done to save money
and the environment. Robertson Paper Company operated from the early
1900s to the mid 1980s as one of the largest producers of waxed paper in
the U.S. Robbie Paper, as it was known locally, was demolished in the
spring of 2019 to make way for redevelopment of "The Island," a 30-acre
tract tucked between the Bellows Falls Canal to the west and the
Connecticut River to the east. The project site was taken on by the
Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation in 2013, which planned to
clean and redevelop the site for commercial uses. The redevelopment is
being funded with federal, state and local support, including grants from
the Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields Assessment and
Cleanup Program.
Lead, arsenic, asbestos, petroleum and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
were found in the soil and building materials at Robbie Paper during a site
investigation funded by the Windham Regional Commission, using their
Brownfields assessment grant. EPA also directly performed a second site
assessment focused on the underground petroleum contamination under
its Targeted Brownfields Assessment technical assistance program. The
cleanup involved demolishing a building, removing asbestos, excavating
contaminated soil, and installing 18 inches of clean soil to contain any
contaminated soil remaining. A local demolition and salvage contractor
was able to save much of the debris. Salvaging brick, timbers, metals, and
architectural granite protected the environment and cost developers less
than sending the waste to a landfill. Advanced planning made it possible
to reclaim materials and respect historic preservation. Salvaged items, like
decorative granite lintels, iron framing supports, and original boiler parts,
will be re-used or displayed in a kiosk depicting the history of the Island.
Utilizing Sustainable Materials Management to
reclaim and salvage building materials
The success of this project's sustainability goals was enhanced by the
partnership between EPA's Sustainable Materials Management program and
the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Vermont has laws
and policies such as Act 250, Vermont's land use and development law, which
provides a public process for reviewing and managing the environmental,
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v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

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social and fiscal consequences of major subdivisions and developments. The
law ensures that larger developments complement Vermont's unique
landscape, economy and community needs. It requires that applicants
involved in more than 5,000 square feet of construction or demolition have
a plan that strives to find new uses for asphalt shingles, scrap metal, dry
wall, plywood, engineered wood, brick, concrete, granite, slate, and other
construction materials and debris. In addition, clean wood is banned from
landfills, a law passed in Vermont in 2016. DEC provides technical assistance
and market research to Vermont construction and demolition businesses.
This project did not trip the need for an Act 250 permit, but nevertheless
worked with the state on a construction waste management plan.
Materials that were salvaged from Robbie Paper include the following.
Metals
Scrap Recyling
10 tons
Timbers
Denailed and sold for
reuse/milling
25,580 board feet
Bricks
Salvaged and sold
1000 cubic yards
Left Over Paper
Recycled
100 tons
Interior Building
miscellaneous- doors,
All donated
Contents
windows, lights,
fixtures, etc -

Contaminated Soils
soils encapsulated on
1,600 cubic yards
(polyaromatic
site rather than being

hydrocarbons (PAH)
disposed of in landfill

and arsenic)


Today
The site, located in the heart of downtown, is now ready for redevelopment
and to shepherd in the next phase of the island's history.
EPA Grant Recipients: Windham Regional Commission, Vermont DEC,
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Island
Holdings LLC (subsidiary of Bellows Falls Area Development Corp)
Funding
The Environmental Protection Agency has invested over $700,000 in
Brownfields funding at this site for assessment and cleanup as follows:
Assessment ($234,000)
Vermont DEC ($10,334)
Windham Regional Commission ($93,608)
EPA TBA technical assistance ($130,000)
Cleanup ($501,137)
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Revolving
Loan Fund ($151,137)
Windham Regional Commission Revolving Loan Fund ($150,000)
Direct cleanup grant to Island Holdings LLC ($200,000)
Other funding sources which contributed to the project included $150,000
from ACCD's Community Development Block Grant Program for demolition
and $300,000 from the Windham County Economic Development Program
and $140,000 from the Town of Rockingham's Revolving Loan Fund for
project management, planning, and other expenses.

"With the help of the EPA and our
other funding partners, we were
able to take our project from
conceptual phase to reality. The
site had an historically significant
building that had fallen to ruin
through decades of neglect when
we purchased it. Although the
building had to be demolished for
public safety and turned out to be
a Brownfield site, we now have a
1.67-acre greenfield parcel to be
developed for commercial
purposes, which will bring
employment and opportunities to
our Community."
Robin Sweetapple
President, BFADC
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at
www.epa.gov/brownfields or contact
Chris Beling at 617-918-1792 or
beiing.christine@epa.gov.
EPA 560-F-19-185
September 2019

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