Community Corner

DEEP on Scene of Somersville Mill Fire

The department cleared the scene during the morning of June 2.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection responded to the and cleared the scene during the morning of June 2.

According to a DEEP spokesperson, the department responded to the fire at approximately 2:30 a.m. on June 2 at the request of the . Information in town land records indicated that the roof of the entire complex was a newer asphalt type, with no asbestos. There was a walkway that went over the Scantic River, which fell in river, but this did not cause any environmental problems. 

The spokesperson said that the buildings were empty and did not contain any chemicals, and no monitoring or sampling was required in this case. 

Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Patrick Bowe, director of the remediation division at DEEP, said that the site owners are responsible for developing the cleanup plan for this site, and only under certain circumstances with respect to contamination on that site would the immediate cleanup plan have to come through the DEEP office.

Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In terms of long-term cleanup, plans to address past history, including contamination that could be deep in the soil, would be something that would come to DEEP typically when the property is being reutilized.

While the mill is on the DEEP’s contaminated site list, Bowe said that that doesn’t change how it is dealt with.

“Generally not for a mill that is empty and has no chemicals stored in it – as was the case,” he said. “The fire will potentially mobilize some materials that are in the walls, the window caulking, the bricks, things of that nature, and generally most of that is not a significant issue in terms of other than mechanical safety of people walking around. It is rarely a contamination issue.”

As for contamination of the soil, Bowe said that the soil would typically be contaminated while the mill was operational.

“That would typically be the source of contamination and subsequent reuse of the property is when that cleanup would happen,” he said.

As for being in compliance with environmental safety standards, Bowe said that, “With a closed, empty facility, those are not issues.”

And in regards to resident health and safety, Bowe said that there is generally not an immediate threat that people need to worry about living near or driving by the site, and that the bigger danger would be crawling through the site in the rubble.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here