EPA completes demolition, cleanup at North Smithfield Superfund site

THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY has completed a hazardous waste cleanup of the former mill office building located in the Stamina Mills Inc. Superfund site in North Smithfield. The EPA demolished the building as part of the efforts. / COURTESY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

NORTH SMITHFIELD – The Environmental Protection Agency has completed a hazardous waste cleanup at the Stamina Mills Removal Site on School Street, the agency announced Wednesday.

The parcel is one piece of the Stamina Mills Inc. Superfund site, the EPA said, and constitutes the former mill office building. The building was known to have asbestos-containing material and was in a state of disrepair. The agency demolished the building and disposed of the debris. The cleanup included the removal of trees and vegetation, and backfilling the excavated areas.

“At the local level, the town of North Smithfield had major concerns about the safety of the building abandoned at the Stamina Mills Superfund site,” said R.I. Department of Environmental Management Acting Director Terry Gray in a statement. “EPA stepped up and did the hard work of demolishing, decontaminating and cleaning up this blighted property, thus removing the unsafe conditions in the community.”

The EPA said it worked with the R.I. Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission to preserve and document the historical aspects of the building.

- Advertisement -

“EPA’s work at the Stamina Mills Office Building helped to protect people, nearby homes and businesses by eliminating risks posed by asbestos that was contained in the building, which could have become airborne,” said EPA New England Acting Regional Administrator Deborah Szaro in a statement. “This successful project is a testament to our effective collaboration with our partners at R.I. DEM and the R.I. Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.”

The Superfund site was originally a textile mill operation that began in the early 1900s. The agency said that in 1969, the mill began using trichloroethylene to remove oil and dirt from woven fabric, and that same year, the mill spilled an unknown quantity of the substance at the site. The mill closed in 1975 and the complex was destroyed in a fire in 1977.

The building demolished during the cleanup was the last remaining original mill building on-site.

The 5-acre property remains a Superfund site under the supervision of the Environmental Protection Agency.

No posts to display