Jy	

Land & Cornmunrty RevHalization

BROWNFIELDS SUCCESS IN NEW ENGLAND

FORMER AEROFAB FACILITY

SANFORD, MAINE

3 Q
LL 1
EPA Brownfields Assessment Grants
(Phase I, 2011 Phase II. and Supplemental
Assessments):
EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grant:
SMRPC Revolving Loan Fund Subgrant:
Maine DEP (2008 Phase II Assessment):
Removed or capped 500 tons of contaminated soil.
Green building demolition recycled 95% of materials.
New parking lot signals renewed investment in
downtown, removes blighted structure, and provides
parking to support nearby redevelopment projects.
$50,000
$400,000
$200,000
$ 17.000
Address:
Maine Department of Enviromnental Protection (DEP).,
Maine Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP),
Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission
(SMRPC), Town of Sanford, Northland Enterprises LLC
3 Aerofab Drive and 0 Pioneer Avenue,
Sanford, ME
Size:	0.73 acres
Former Use: Dye house, aircraft manufacturing facility
Contaminants: Chlorinated volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs).
metals, petroleum asbestos-containing material
Current Use:	Parking lot
Owner:	Town of Sanford
Motivation for Redevelopment: From the 1800s through
niid-20; century, the Town of Sanford, Maine was a vibrant
mill town home to many sawmills and textile manufacturers.
San ford's economy was devastated when the mills closed in
the 1950s, resulting in a loss of 3,500 jobs. Despite recruiting
some new industry, the town's economy has never fully
recovered. Today, unemployment and poverty rates in
Sanford are consistently higher than the county and state
rates, and median household income is below the county
level. A product of its industrial past, downtown Sanford has
more than 30 brown field sites. Many of these sites are within
the Sanford Mills Historic District, a 7.5-acre district that
encompasses 14 historic buildings. The dilapidated mill
buildings are a constant reminder of the area's hard times, and
their redevelopment is at the center of Sanford's downtown
revitalization strategy.
Property History: Located adjacent to the Mousam River in
downtown Sanford, the former Aerofab building was built in
the late 1800s as part of the Sanford Mills complex, a woolen
mill. The building was used as a dye house and for storage
until the mill closed in the 1950s. In 1960, Lake Aircraft
purchased the property and used the facility to fabricate
amphibious aircraft components under the Aerofab brand.
Lake Aircraft vacated the site in 2002.
Because of the site's former industrial uses, the town
suspected that the property had environmental contamination.
Using funding from a Community-Wide EPA Brownfields
Assessment Grant, the Town conducted Phase I and Phase II
Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs). The assessments
confirmed the presence of soil and groundwater
contamination, including chlorinated volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds
(SVOCs), metals, and petroleum. The abandoned building
also contained numerous hazardous substances as well as
asbestos-containing materials.
Project Results: In 2009, the Town of Sanford acquired the
two parcels that comprise the former Aerofab facility through
eminent domain with the intention of remediating and
redeveloping the site. The Town used $400,000 in EPA
Brownfields Cleanup Grants and a $200,000 subgrant from
the Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission
(SMRPC) to initiate cleanup efforts. In order to fully address
the contamination under the building and prevent it from
entering the Mousam River, the structure had to be fully
removed, an action that required Section 106 historical
review. The building deconstruction incorporated concepts
from EPA Region 1 's Clean and Green Policy for
contaminated sites, recycling 95% of materials. Cleanup
activities included the removal of an onsite petroleum storage
tank and the removal or capping of more than 500 tons of
contaminated soil.
The Aerofab property is being redeveloped into a parking lot
that will serve the adjacent Sanford Mill, a brownfield
redevelopment project that has transformed an abandoned mill
into a housing and commercial complex. The 60-space
parking lot has the potential to be retrofitted into a multi-story
parking facility at a later date. Together with the Sanford Mill
redevelopment, the new parking lot signals renewed
investment in Sanford's downtown and contributes to
revitalization efforts by removing a blighted structure and
providing the parking necessary to support nearby projects.
TIMELINE
Oct. 2007	Phase I ESA completed
May 2008	Phase II ESA completed
June 2009	Updated Phase I ESA completed
June 2009	Town assumes ownership of property
Dec. 2009 - Summer 2011	Site cleanup
Spring 2011	Additional Phase II ESA completed
Fall 2011	Parking lot construction completed
August 2011
Local Contact: James Gulnac, Planning Director, Town of Sanford • (207) 324-9150 • jqguhiae@sfflifordmaiiie.org

-------