September 18, 2012

Leeds site named to Superfund list

Staff reports

LEEDS -- A site used for scrap metal recovery processing until the mid 1980s will be investigated and potentially cleaned up under the auspices of the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The Leeds Metal Site was one of 12 sites added Tuesday to the Superfund National Priority List.

The site, on Blue Rock Road, was used between 1969 and 1984. According to the EPA, automobiles were shredded on site and nonrecyclable material stockpiled.

"Gasoline and other fluids from junk cars were dumped directly onto the ground, and as many as 100 drums were staged along the tree line in the southern part of the site," the EPA said in a prepared statement. "The Leeds Fire Department has responded to numerous fires at the site. The site is currently inactive and unoccupied."

Previously, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection removed drums of waste and an abandoned transformer, tested soils and installed water filtration systems at five homes.

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