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City of Claremont takes over former gas plant site

By GLYNIS HART
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CLAREMONT – Amerigas Corporation handed the deed for 57 Broad Street to the City of Claremont at a formal ceremony Tuesday, marking the end of a three-year-long cleanup project at the former Synergy gas plant site. 

Claremont was one of a handful of New England cities to use manufactured (coal) gas for light before the Civil War; the plant dates from 1855 and, according to EPA administrator Alexandra Dunn, was used for 87 years. Burning coal slightly below the temperature of combustion produced coal gas, which was piped into buildings and street lights for illumination. However, a technological innovation for the mid-19th century became an ecological menace in the mid-20th. 

Coal gas production left coal tar in the soil in and around the Sugar River. Coal tar contains benzene, toluene, and xylene, also known as BTEX, a group of volatile organic compounds. They can damage the liver, kidneys, central nervous system and eyes at high levels of exposure, such as at a workplace. BTEX also contributes ground-level ozone, which can affect human respiration. 

According to Bob Scott of the Environmental Protection Agency, the cleanup effort — paid for by Amerigas, which became the owner of the site through a series of bankruptcies, acquisitions, and mergers —removed 9,000 tons of contaminated soil and treated 7,800 tons of soil on site. The project installed and stabilized the shoreline and razed the dilapidated buildings that were left.

“This is a great day for the city,” said Mayor Charlene Lovett, “because we are going to take back this beautiful piece of property on the Sugar River.” 

The city received the deed from Amerigas as part of a deal with Amerigas, the EPA and the city. Amerigas Vice President of Operations Steve Kossuth said it was an honor giving the land back to the city: “This community is literally our neighbors, family and friends.”

Bob Scott of the EPA was the first, but by no means the last, speaker to bring up redevelopment of the property. City Manager Ryan McNutt joked informally after the ceremony that the top two choices for new businesses wanted at the site are a brewery or a Thai restaurant; the 1.06-acre site in the historic district overlooks the river and is bounded by a green slope on the other side, protecting it from noise and traffic. 

Community development director Nancy Merrill said no city money was spent for the deed. Amerigas worked with the EPA to accomplish the cleanup, with the understanding it would deed the property back to the city once the cleanup was done. 

McNutt said he’s observed a lot of site cleanups throughout the Northeast and they can be very challenging. This one, because of the cooperation of Amerigas, the EPA and the city, went well. 

“This is a perfect synergy between federal government, state government and local,” he said. “I invite you back in a couple years to see what this has become.”

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