NHDES settles case with Brady Sullivan Resulting in a Fine and Three Important Environmental Cleanups

Concord, NH - Commissioner Robert R. Scott of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) announces that NHDES has entered into an Administrative Fine by Consent agreement with Brady Sullivan Millworks, LLC and Brady Sullivan Corporation (collectively “Brady Sullivan”) resolving allegations of violations of the State’s Hazardous Waste Management Act and Solid Waste Management Act relative to management of contaminated soils removed from 195 McGregor Street in Manchester (known as the “Mill West Site,” and formerly the Elbes Associates Site). The agreement assesses a total administrative fine of $500,000 to be paid as follows: $50,000 to the State’s Hazardous Waste Cleanup Fund, and the remaining $450,000 to be used to implement Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) in three New Hampshire communities, Bartlett, Manchester, and Londonderry.

Under the terms of the agreement, Brady Sullivan will pay $200,000 to the Town of Bartlett to fund a SEP that involves developing a riverbank stabilization design and landfill closure design for the former Bartlett Landfill located on U.S. Route 302 in Bartlett. Brady Sullivan will pay $125,000 to the City of Manchester to fund a SEP involving contaminated soil cleanup at 307 Kidder St. in Manchester, a City-owned lot associated with a hotel and parking garage development. Finally, Brady Sullivan will pay $125,000 to the Town of Londonderry to fund a SEP that involves site assessment and cleanup planning at 35 Gilcreast Road, a former apple orchard property that is subject to a conservation easement held by the Town.

Brady Sullivan Corporation is a New Hampshire corporation with offices in Manchester that is engaged in developing, owning, and managing residential, commercial and industrial real estate. Prior to 2013, as part of construction and development activities, Brady Sullivan transported contaminated soil from the Mill West Site to a gravel pit property that it owns in Londonderry at 6 Roundstone Drive. The contaminated soils were subject to a hazardous waste determination to determine their regulatory status prior to off-site disposal. Brady Sullivan did not conduct the required determinations on the transported soils. Later testing of the soils revealed that the concentrations of tetrachloroethylene in the soils caused them to be classified as solid waste, necessitating proper disposal at a permitted solid waste facility. At the direction of NHDES, Brady Sullivan subsequently removed the soils from the Londonderry property and properly disposed of them, at significant expense, at a permitted solid waste facility.

“It is vital that developers and contractors comply with all applicable laws and rules relative to management of contaminated soils, particularly at former commercial and industrial properties where hazardous materials have previously been in use. I am pleased that this case has been resolved in a manner that will serve as a notice to all of the importance of proper soil characterization and

management, while helping three communities to address environmental challenges involving management of soils and solid waste,” said Commissioner Scott.