The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a violation notice to Fairfield, in the latest chapter of the town”™s fill pile saga.
The EPA notice, which Fairfield received Friday, cites the presence of PCBs up to 230 parts per million, well above allowable levels, on the property. The federal agency requires the town to provide information within 10 days of receipt about what action it will take to address the PCB contamination.
First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick said she has already been in discussions with the town’s conservation and health departments on how to respond.
The federal notice follows two state violations the town received last year about the fill pile.
The fill pile is generally conceded to have helped Kupchick unseat three-term incumbent Mike Tetreau last November. It has also led to the arrests of several people, including former Fairfield Superintendent of Public Works Scott Bartlett and former Fairfield Director of Public Works Joseph Michelangelo, on charges ranging from forgery, bribery and larceny to illegal dumping, handling waste without a permit and violating waste facility requirements.
“It”™s absolutely mind-boggling,” Kupchick told the Business Journal earlier this month. She said that she has been informed that the criminal investigation is “ongoing and more arrests are coming.”
The cost of the site”™s cleanup will likely be substantial. Fairfield is considering four professional firms for that work.
