Capping Portsmouth's Island Park dump [update]

By John McDaid | Saturday, 6 November 2010
Island Park dump work
Island Park dump work begins.

Anyone driving along Park Ave. in Island Park yesterday would have noticed brush clearning and construction along the southeast end of the marsh, in the area that, fifty years ago, was known as the old dump. According to sources familiar with the area, this is the first phase of a project to cap the dump and cover it with fresh dirt and grass.

No officials in Town Hall could be reached for confirmation yesterday afternoon, but according to sources familiar with the operation, the former dump had been purchased by a private group several years ago, and this group assumed responsibility for the remediation project, including negotiations with DEM and CRMC, at no cost to the town.

Once the cap is in place and the area re-seeded, any reuse plan would need to be approved by the town and state, sources said.

Update: Portsmouth Patch has the rest of the story.

Tags: 
Localblogging, 02871, IP

Comments

Wernerlll

Sun, 11/07/2010 - 6:30pm

Had no idea there is a former dump in the area. When was it closed? To me it sounds likethe plan calls for paving over a problem and build housing on it with a view of sorts? What kind of dump was it and what does it contain? Something that could leach into the water column? Any transformers in there that could leach PBC into the soil? Why it was not cleaned up long ago? I suppose no one wants to talk about it. Besides, who has a "need to know"? To me this all smacks of passivity or perhaps, our community only holds workaholics, or people are totally consumed in order to survive hard economic times to leave no time for deliberation over issues and the future of our little island.

I do not have any illusion of precipitating WW III in our community with these questions, but…. "What's the Matter with Portsmouth?"

Your Ever Questioning,
Wernerlll

John McDaid

Sun, 11/07/2010 - 7:11pm

Hi...
The old "dump" is just what my family used to call it; a more careful reporter would likely choose a different word. I can tell you that the process appears to have gone through scrutiny from DEM and the CRMC, who approved the plan at their meeting of Sept 28. That's all the information I was able to dig up over the weekend.

Best,
-j

Wernerlll

Tue, 11/16/2010 - 11:40am

Good "Report"!
Okay, as Keith O would say, he is not a reporter but an opinion writer? So you would choose what vocabulary if you were a "reporter" providing a status of the Park Island's "Dump" and have readers still recognize the location of the site, like family?

Just a student learning from the wise,
Keep up the good work,
Cheers,
Wernerlll

John McDaid

Tue, 11/16/2010 - 12:28pm

Hi, Werner...
In the Patch story, Town Administrator Bob Driscoll refers to the site as the "old landfill" which is the language I should have used.

Best Regards.
-j

Maddie_C

Tue, 11/16/2010 - 1:30pm

Heck, everyone in my family still calls the "transfer station" the dump.

Viking

Tue, 11/16/2010 - 2:12pm

I'm not sure that it is at all reassuring that the area was a "landfill" and not a "dump." Who knows who put what in there by whom and when? Well, I suppose there is no reason to worry. One hopes that before anyone digs/builds anything there, a thorough testing of the soil and any indicated remediation would be required. Not uncommonly, the cost of remediation can outweigh the prospective benefits of developing the land. [The parking lot of "Newport Grand" is in this category, being the location of the former City of Newport's "dump."]