EPA-540-FS-09-12S

v>EPA | TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES FOR COMMUNITIES
c BDGBBnn at the Raymark Industries Superfund Site

www.epa.gov

This fact sheet is part of a series that illustrates the services provided by U.S. EPA's Technical
Assistance Services for Communities (TASC) program.

Community Technical Assistance Needs

The Raymark Industries Superfund site in Stratford,
Connecticut includes a 33-acre former brake and clutch
part manufacturing facility that operated between 1919
and 1989. Cleanup at the site began in 1992; U.S. EPA
listed the site on its National Priorities List of contaminated
sites in 1995. Cleanup activities at the original Raymark
facility have been completed, and the facility is now in
reuse as a shopping center. Cleanup is ongoing across
other portions of the site.

The local community has been very engaged in the site's
cleanup and reuse. Most recently, plans for the removal of
contaminated site waste from several residential properties
led to community concerns about potential exposure to
contaminated dust from these activities. Community
members contacted the Stratford Health Department,
which in turn contacted U.S. EPA Region 1 to request
technical assistance. The community's technical assistance
priorities were:

•	to identify any potential for community exposure
to contaminated dust from planned cleanup
activities; and

•	to ensure that technical assistance findings were
accessible by a general audience and made
available to all interested members of the
community.

To address these priorities, the Stratford Health
Department sought technical assistance that would
quantitatively analyze air sampling data collected during
similar cleanup activities at the site in 1993 and 1994.
These data could be used to assess whether soil handling
practices would be adequate to prevent off-site dust
migration during the removal of contaminated wastes
from residential properties.

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Stratford

The TASC Response

EPA Region 1 contacted TASC in early May 2008.
Following a kickoff meeting with EPA and the Stratford
Health Department, TASC moved rapidly to address
the community's technical assistance priorities.
TASC mobilized a team of data analysts to sort and
organize 6,000 pages of the 1993-1994 data and related
documentation. Data were grouped by contaminant, by
residential sampling location, and by sample type (from
on-site workers or community samples). Statistical
analyses compared data within each of these groups
to state and federal benchmarks. Results indicated that
air concentrations of contaminants were not above
benchmarks during removal activities in 1993 and 1994.

TASC developed a technical report that summarized
these findings in plain English and delivered the report to
the community on August 15, 2008.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Technical Assistance Services for Communities


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Process Outcomes: Community
Benefits

TASC's services addressed the community's concerns
regarding potential exposure to contaminated dust from
planned cleanup activities.

•	The report's findings directly addressed the
community's exposure concerns, finding
that prior soil handling methods at the site
adequately prevented off-site dust migration.

•	TASC's rapid response and findings have
encouraged EPA to evaluate additional historical
site data that may be able to inform the future
cleanup activities.

Bags of waste removed from the Raymark facility in 1995.
Courtesy Town of Stratford

What is the TASC Program?

www.epa.gov/superfund/communi1y/tasc

For more information
on EPA's TASC program,
please contact:

Jim Murphy
TASC Coordinator - EPA Regionl
murphy.jim@epa.gov
(617) 918-1028

Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC)

is a U.S. EPA program that provides educational and technical
assistance to communities affected by hazardous waste sites
regulated by the Superfund and Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act programs. TASC provides independent technical
advisors to explain hazardous waste issues and to interpret plans
for cleaning up contamination. TASC offers assistance to help
communities better understand local hazardous waste issues
and engage in the cleanup process.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Technical Assistance Services for Communities

Printed on 100% recycled/recyclable paper


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