Environmental concerns hold up Church & Morse demolition in Meriden

Published: July 3, 2014 | Last Modified: July 4, 2014 12:57PM

By Dan Brechlin Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN The citys Engineering Department is working on a plan to ensure building and hazardous materials do not fall into Harbor Brook during demolition of multiple South Colony Street buildings. The need for a plan and other issues that have come up in recent months have significantly delayed demolition.

Two weeks ago, Public Works Director Robert Bass told the Record-Journal that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection had an issue with the demolition project and the city was trying to figure out what theyre looking for. DEEP initially did not have a firm response on the issue, but has since clarified, noting that the city needed to address environmental concerns.

Specifically, we are asking how they plan to dispose of the waste and asbestos and PCBs and ensure when they demolish the buildings they are not going to get into the brook, DEEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner said Wednesday. They have done that, we are just waiting for (the city) to provide more info about how they will dispose of their PCBs. Once they do that, both parties can continue.

The demolition project involves razing 33 S. Colony St., which is the former Church & Morse hardware building, and the buildings at 51-53 S. Colony St. Demolishing the buildings would allow for a simpler construction process for a nearby railroad bridge. For more than a century, the bridge has contributed to downtown flooding, causing Harbor Brook to back up during major rainstorms.

More than 100 years old, the buildings are in poor shape and 51-53 S. Colony St. had been condemned. As part of the demolition process, environmental remediation took place at 33 S. Colony St. and partially at 51-53 S. Colony St. Because the remediation was not complete, the contaminated materials will need to be disposed of properly.

Harbor Brook runs underneath 33 S. Colony St., which heightened DEEPs concern, while 51-53 S. Colony St. runs alongside the brook.

The Town and its contractors had made no provisions for preventing asbestos (or for that matter any other demolition debris) from falling into the [brook]... Gardner wrote in an email in June. So, we have been working with them to ensure that the building materials were properly characterized and that the buildings would be torn down in a manner that would prevent releases to the brook and ensure proper disposal of the debris.

In addition to the need for an environmental contamination removal plan, utility complications, clearing out items from the buildings, remediation, weather and other issues have stalled the demolition. A ceremony was held in October 2013 to mark the start of demolition and officials expected it would only take a few weeks. It remains unclear when demolition will resume.

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Environmental concerns hold up Church & Morse demolition in Meriden