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WILTON – Selectmen and the town manager, assisted by the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments and state environmental agencies, is researching options for a former tannery facility located off Routes 2 and 4.
Selectmen were unanimous in voting to have the town take possession of the building in East Wilton, after foreclosure notices were sent to the owner in March. More than $75,000 in back taxes are owed on the property, going back to 2005, and Town Manager Rhonda Irish said one of her last communications with the owner indicated he was not opposed to foreclosure.
“The owner had said ‘take it – I can’t do anything with it,” Irish told selectmen earlier this month.
The building apparently is filled with a variety of items, ranging from vehicles to old printing machines to desks and toys to vacuum cleaners according to reports from selectmen. People storing things in the facility have been given until December 11 to remove them.
That leaves the building itself. Selectmen are concerned that the building’s value will be lowered by the potential environmental risk caused by the historic use of the facility; tanning leather, which involves a number of chemicals. The town reached out the AVCOG, who consults with local governments on a variety of issues, which has conducted an assessment of potential risks. That assessment, based on historical data rather than an in-depth scientific study, is the first step to potential further investigation, according to an expert in so-called “brown fields” who works with AVCOG.
“We work to alleviate concerns or pinpoint contamination,” Janet Cummings said. She noted that the initial assessment was completed and is currently being reviewed by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency.
If contamination is suspected, the town could opt to move toward more comprehensive surveys of the water, soil and air at the tannery. That could be the next step toward seeking a grant of some kind to mitigate any contamination, through the DEP’s Voluntary Response Action Program or some similar program.
Cummings said she expected public meetings would be scheduled following the assessment’s vetting by the DEP and EPA, and throughout the process, should the town opt to move forward.
Following mitigation, state agencies would need to sign off on the area as a suitable site for future development. Successful competition of VRAP or another, similar program could increase the value of the property when the town is ready to put it up for sale. Some ventures, such as residential projects, would require the tannery site to meet stricter criteria than others, such as another industrial site of some kind.
Regardless, selectmen hope that the property, all but unusable for the past 15 years, could be a functioning element in Wilton’s economy in the years to come.
