The environmental cleanup of 15 million tires out of a pond in Hamden and North Haven is moving forward now that a construction materials firm has been ordered from the site.
The Connecticut Supreme Court last week dismissed a challenge by Hamden-based Modern Materials Corp., forcing the company to leave the property so the cleanup and closure of the site could continue.
The property is owned by Joseph and Jean Farricielli and was long used for solid-waste disposal operations. The site has been the focus of environmental concern and illegal activity since the 1970s, and the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office and Department of Energy & Environmental Protection has been trying since 1999 to comply with environmental laws.
The land abuts the Quinnipiac River and tidal marshes and includes a pond that has been used to dispose 15 million used tires.
Court orders in 2001, 2004, and 2007 allowed for DEEP to take over cleanup work and close the pond. The tires are now completed covered, but the state needed Modern Materials to move so final grading, cover, and drainage work can be completed.
Once DEEP issues the notice to move, Modern Materials has 60 days to comply.
Calls placed to Modern Materials were not answered.
