Eastern Fine Paper Assessment & Cleanup – Brewer, Maine
Overview
Eastern Fine Paper was the largest employer in Brewer for over 90 years and employed up to 900 employees at its peak. The location of this site at the confluence of the Penobscot River and Sedgeunkedunk Stream made it an ideal location for the lumber and sawmill that occupied the property from 1771 until the 1880’s. Paper manufacturing (initially manila folders and wrapping paper) began in 1895 and related activities continued at this site for over a century. Facilities present at the site included a chlorine bleach mill, a box making mill, and a pulp and paper mill. In 2004, the mill filed for bankruptcy protection and ceased operations. In 2005, the City of Brewer obtained ownership of the property from the bankruptcy court with numerous unknown environmental challenges that was impacting redevelopment and reuse of the site.
Challenge
Assess and address the environmental challenges at the Site while increasing the marketability of the Site to facilitate redevelopment, create jobs and return the site to the local tax base.
Solution
Credere worked in partnership with the City of Brewer to obtain and execute a $350,000 EPA funded Brownfields Assessment grant that quantified the various environmental conditions at the site and conduct remediation planning to address these conditions specific to the redevelopment. Credere then worked with the City of Brewer and South Brewer Redevelopment, LLC to obtain more than $2 million in EPA funding to complete the remediation activities required to support the redevelopment. Our remedial design was intimately combined with the overall site design resulting in a cost savings of over $1 million.
Results
This work allowed the site to be redeveloped by Cianbro Constructors, LLC into a Modular Fabrication Facility creating 500 new jobs and leveraging $50 million in private investment. This project received a Phoenix Award for excellence at the 2009 Brownfields Conference in New Orleans, LA.