(Thanks to "Big Al" for identifying this company)
www.shawsheen.org reports that:
The Reichold site is a storied property that presents a wonderful opportunity
for the town. It has more than 1.3 miles of river frontage, flat flood
plains, forested uplands and wetlands. It fills a major gap in the open-space
corridor that runs along the Shawsheen River. There are very few parcels
left in town that offer the potential of this 46-acre site. There are also
few that offer such a checkered history: For more than 40 years a chemical
plant occupied the site, spewing its effluent into the Shawsheen River,
dumping hardened resins into on-site landflls, and processing waste chemicals
on site.
About 10 years ago, Reichhold acknowledged that indeed
it had been polluting and began to clean up the site. In Massachusetts,
the law requires clean-up to be designed and directed by a "licensed site
professional" or LSP who reports its findings and progress to the Mass.
Dept of Environmental Protection and the town of Andover's Board of Health.
Reichhold hired CH2M Hill, a very reputable, very well known environmental
consulting firm.
More than 18,000 tons of resins, old structures and contaminated
soils, have been removed from the site. Subsequently, those areas were
covered with three feet of clean soils. The ground water was also polluted
with volatile organic compounds. Given time, with bxygen present, these
compounds will decay. Presently, most of the soils have met the state's
highest standard, which is sufficient for residential use including growing
vegetables. The remaining substandard soils are under the buildings that
are soon to be torn down. The same processes used on the rest of the site
will be used there. The groundwater does not yet meet state standards in
some areas of the site. However, monitoring wells show a positive trend
toward reducing concentrations as the natural decaying process and the
flow of groundwater into the Shawsheen continues.
For the full text of this article click on this link
Current map showing the location of Reichold Chemical. Note the RC
on the above map.
Recent Topo showing RC as well as their siding. Look for the RC on
the map.
Not all of the buildings pictures on this topo are still standing,
some have already been torn down.
Aerial Photograph showing the site, note that the buildings on the right are mostly gone, the ones on the left, including the big warehouse type building are still there. Note the bridge over the river as well as the building or pool on the north side of the river.