Preston officials look forward to spring cleanup at former Norwich Hospital
Preston — The final year-long cleanup of the 393-acre former Norwich Hospital property is expected to start later this month, pending receipt of state environmental permits for ground remediation.
First Selectman Robert Congdon and Preston Redevelopment Agency Chairman Sean Nugent met with officials at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection recently to review the town’s four permit applications for the final cleanup now that the Planning and Zoning Commission has approved a plan to use two gravel bank areas on the site to excavate clean fill and deposit contaminated fill.
“It was a very good meeting,” Congdon said. “They gave us good direction.”
Once the cleanup is completed, estimated to take 12 months, the town will have 30 days to submit a final report to DEEP for certification that the remediation has been completed. Then the town would be free to transfer ownership of the property to Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment.
The town reached an agreement with Mohegan tribal leaders in 2017 for a proposed $200 million to $600 million project, including recreational, sports, retail, housing and hotel developments. Tribal planners are marketing the project, seeking developers for the various aspects of the plans, Nugent said.
“We meet with the tribal leaders regularly,” Nugent said. “They’re still involved in seeking partners and they’re still very interested in the property and very committed to the town.”
The state permits likely won’t be approved for 30 to 40 days, with the longest period for a permit to work near the tidal wetlands at the Thames River. The town Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commission also must approve proposed work in the area of a pond on the eastern side of Route 12. The commission will hold a public hearing on April 17 at 8 p.m. on the application.
Nugent said the wait for ground work permits will not affect the final environmental abatement of the several buildings remaining on the campus by contractor Manafort Bros. Inc.
By mid-April, activity should be visible on the property, and when state and local permits are received, “we’ll be able to hit the ground running, literally,” Nugent said.
The town PZC permit involved two gravel bank areas on the western side of Route 12 on the high ground above the slope to the river. Clean fill will be excavated and used on the property in places where contaminated materials are removed.
Most of the contamination is in the pavement of the roads that snake through the property, the two town officials said. The state used ash from the coal-fired heating plant on campus to create road pavement. That material now must be removed.
The old road material will be deposited in the excavated gravel bank areas and will be covered by clean fill. The town will not be required to create an impermeable cap like those that cover garbage landfills, Congdon said.
The final cleanup is being funded through a $10 million state grant the town received in 2017 once the agreement with the tribe was finalized. The town also secured an additional $2 million contingency state loan — forgivable by increments once the development generates permanent jobs — if the cleanup costs exceed expectations.
In all, Preston received $19.4 million in state grants and loans, $2.2 million in federal grants and contributed $2.4 million in local town funds as matching shares, for a combined total of $24 million to clean and demolish buildings and the tunnel network, which had snaked through the property connecting buildings, and to remove old fuel tanks.
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