It’s been a painstakingly slow process, but it looks like there finally may be some movement in the long-awaited clean-up and demolition of the contaminated Keddy Mill in South Windham.
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| The long-awaited demolition and clean-up of the contaminated Keddy Mill in South Windham by the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to start this fall and will be the first step in a process that could take up to fournyears to remove hazardous chemicals and toxic materials from the site. FILE PHOTO |
Design planning including work schedule, Project Management Plan development and design of the mill building demolition is underway and is expected to be completed later this year. The EPA estimates that Removal Action implementation consisting of mill building demolition will commence following EPA approval of the design submittals and procurement of a construction contractor by late 2026 or early 2027.
Located at 7 Depot St. in South Windham, the Keddy Mill complex includes a 6.93-acre abandoned mill complex property adjacent to the Presumpscot River. The mill building was constructed in the early 1900s although a sawmill existed there previously.
The sawmill closed in 1822, and the Keddy Mill property was then used as a grist and carding mill. In 1875, the Sebago Wood Board Company acquired the mill site and constructed a pulp mill complex, which included a three-story main mill building, machine room, drying rooms, and a wood preparing house. Between the late 1800s and 1922 additional process buildings/facilities were added, including storehouses, a second railroad siding, the finishing and shipping building, a water tank, machine room, and engine room. The mill was used for pulp and box-board manufacturing through the 1940s.
In 1945, the Keddy Mill shifted from manufacturing paper to steel products such as heavy equipment buckets. Scrap metal was transported by rail cars to the mill and melted into steel billets, which were then used to manufacture steel parts. By the 1960s and early 1970s, manufacturing included flanges and fire suppression materials. EPA officials say that it was during this period that significant disposal of hazardous substances, including harmful PCBs, may have occurred at the site. A large oil-based fire in 1969 damaged the mill complex and destroyed several blast furnaces and by 1974, a scrap recycler launched operations in the mill building.
The property was used as a machine shop and for equipment storage until 1997.
Since 2014, the Keddy Mill site has been included on the EPA’s National Priority List, also known as the Superfund, recognizing it as contaminated and hazardous to human health.
In 2023, after years of conducting environmental studies, the EPA Superfund adopted a cleanup and remediation plan based upon an EPA Remedial Investigation Report, human health and ecological risk assessments, the Feasibility Study, and comments received on EPA's Proposed Plan during a 30-day public comment period.
“EPA’s cleanup plan for the Keddy Mill Superfund Site is a strong effort to ensure the health and safety of community members, protecting them for generations to come,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash at the time. “Cleaning up Superfund sites helps us ensure that no community, no family, and no child has to face exposure to chemicals and other dangerous substances in their day-to-day lives.”
The primary building contaminants which have been determined to exceed acceptable human health standards include polychorinated biphenals (PCBs) and asbestos.
The complex clean-up will take an additional two to four years following the demolition of the Keddy Mill building, EPA officials say.
The cleanup involves excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil and debris from the mill property; targeted treatment of soil in support of groundwater cleanup; treatment of groundwater contaminants and contaminated sediments from the Presumpscot River; and restoration of the portions of the Presumpscot River altered by remedial clean-up actions. Once that has been completed, the EPA will mandate land use restrictions to prevent exposure to site-related contaminants in groundwater and fish tissue until clean-up levels are met, and monitoring of groundwater and fish tissue to evaluate the achievement of cleanup levels, followed by Five-Year Reviews to assess the protectiveness of the remedy.
EPA’s Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country to protect human health and the environment.
Total cost of the Keddy Mill clean-up and demolition and long-term monitoring will run about $17 million. <
The sawmill closed in 1822, and the Keddy Mill property was then used as a grist and carding mill. In 1875, the Sebago Wood Board Company acquired the mill site and constructed a pulp mill complex, which included a three-story main mill building, machine room, drying rooms, and a wood preparing house. Between the late 1800s and 1922 additional process buildings/facilities were added, including storehouses, a second railroad siding, the finishing and shipping building, a water tank, machine room, and engine room. The mill was used for pulp and box-board manufacturing through the 1940s.
In 1945, the Keddy Mill shifted from manufacturing paper to steel products such as heavy equipment buckets. Scrap metal was transported by rail cars to the mill and melted into steel billets, which were then used to manufacture steel parts. By the 1960s and early 1970s, manufacturing included flanges and fire suppression materials. EPA officials say that it was during this period that significant disposal of hazardous substances, including harmful PCBs, may have occurred at the site. A large oil-based fire in 1969 damaged the mill complex and destroyed several blast furnaces and by 1974, a scrap recycler launched operations in the mill building.
The property was used as a machine shop and for equipment storage until 1997.
Since 2014, the Keddy Mill site has been included on the EPA’s National Priority List, also known as the Superfund, recognizing it as contaminated and hazardous to human health.
In 2023, after years of conducting environmental studies, the EPA Superfund adopted a cleanup and remediation plan based upon an EPA Remedial Investigation Report, human health and ecological risk assessments, the Feasibility Study, and comments received on EPA's Proposed Plan during a 30-day public comment period.
“EPA’s cleanup plan for the Keddy Mill Superfund Site is a strong effort to ensure the health and safety of community members, protecting them for generations to come,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash at the time. “Cleaning up Superfund sites helps us ensure that no community, no family, and no child has to face exposure to chemicals and other dangerous substances in their day-to-day lives.”
The primary building contaminants which have been determined to exceed acceptable human health standards include polychorinated biphenals (PCBs) and asbestos.
The complex clean-up will take an additional two to four years following the demolition of the Keddy Mill building, EPA officials say.
The cleanup involves excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil and debris from the mill property; targeted treatment of soil in support of groundwater cleanup; treatment of groundwater contaminants and contaminated sediments from the Presumpscot River; and restoration of the portions of the Presumpscot River altered by remedial clean-up actions. Once that has been completed, the EPA will mandate land use restrictions to prevent exposure to site-related contaminants in groundwater and fish tissue until clean-up levels are met, and monitoring of groundwater and fish tissue to evaluate the achievement of cleanup levels, followed by Five-Year Reviews to assess the protectiveness of the remedy.
EPA’s Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled, or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country to protect human health and the environment.
Total cost of the Keddy Mill clean-up and demolition and long-term monitoring will run about $17 million. <
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