From Eyesore to Asset
The Fisherville Mill 

The triangular piece of land on the Blackstone River where the Fisherville Mill used to sit left behind a thorny environmental legacy and an eyesore for the local citizens and government of Grafton, MA. The abandoned textile mill had been destroyed by fire, spreading asbestos-laden debris, and significant petroleum and chlorinated solvent contamination from former owners.

After emergency response by the US EPA to remove debris and ash, and significant investment from the US EPA and MassDEP to remove oil from the mill canal and control migration of solvents towards municipal water supply wells, our client, Fisherville Redevelopment Company, LLC purchased the property and took over responsibility for the remediation efforts.

Woodard & Curran was hired to provide engineering and LSP services to create a cost-effective remediation and redevelopment strategy within the framework of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan. Using a creative capping solution, our client was able to rapidly build community support by ridding large portions of the site of unsightly debris and stabilizing the deteriorating earthen dam, while comprehensively evaluating site conditions, controlling and recovering oil from the canal, and developing a long term strategy for the solvent contamination.

This remedy makes the site suitable for future redevelopment, and plans currently include open-space and public recreational facilities on half the property. Woodard & Curran helped Fisherville Redevelopment Corp and the town of Grafton establish 40R “Smart Growth” zoning, which provides financial incentives to developers and the town for the development of the property.

Work is also underway on a progressive floating bio-mechanical system with engineered wetlands to address residual oil contamination in the mill canal and to incorporate a flexible, development-friendly remedial approach for the long-term remediation of the solvents in groundwater.

New England is full of challenged sites just like this one, but a motivated community of stakeholders taking action like the work underway at the Fisherville Mill can reawaken the possibilities of many of them.