Occum Park Brownfield Redevelopment

A 5-acre brownfields site in the Village of Occum was once home to a textile manufacturing facility. A fire destroyed the mill complex many years ago and various waste materials and contamination remained. Past CTDEP and USEPA site investigations were undertaken using EPA Brownfields funding.

The City of Norwich took title to the property and with a $1.5 million grant from CT Department of Economic and Community Development and a $900,000 grant from CTDEP is undertaking site remediation and park development for this property. The park is located on the Shetucket River within the nationally designated Quinebaug Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor in northeastern, Connecticut.

GEI, under a CTDEP Voluntary Cleanup Program, developed a cleanup plan which capped certain waste to remain on site while removing other waste and soils containing PCBs. Regulatory requirements of the CTDEP Remediation Standard Regulations will be complied including an engineered control variance and environmental land use restriction (ELUR). In addition, GEI designed a municipal recreation facility at the site including play areas, fields, walkways and river access. GEI was responsible for remediation and construction oversight and preparation of all closure reports.