The town’s harbor managers are welcoming a private developer’s $40 million dredging project to remove decades-old toxins from the Housatonic River —- but they want to know what comes next once the cleanup is complete. As part of a $100 million-plus plan to revitalize the historic former Stratford Army Engine Plant site, dredging will begin in May to remove 233,000 tons of PCB-contaminated sediment and restore tidal flats near the plant’s 550 Main St. site, developer Jim Cabrera of Point Stratford Renewal LLC said during a presentation at Baldwin Center on Monday. Point Stratford, a group of developers selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2012 to redevelop the 77-acre property, purchased the site for $1 last year. Raymond Frigon, director of the Remediation Division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said the restoration of the tidal flats, located on the former plant’s east and west bays, is “a massive undertaking.” Point Stratford is allowing the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army to use the plant site for remediation work and is helping the Army manage the project. Both selected Entact, an Illinois-based site-remediation specialist, through a competitive bidding process.
Major Cleanup at Stratford Army Plant Site Raises Questions About Future Use