Shuttered Haverhill Paperboard mill in Haverhill, Massachusetts, may need environmental review, cleanup of 100-yard-long mess for sale to go through

Sandy Yang

LOS ANGELES , December 27, 2011 (Industry Intelligence) – Although Haverhill Paperboard Co. closed its mill in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 2008, a 100-yard-long mess remains and someone must clean it up, said the head of a non-profit that cleans up river frontages, the Eagle-Tribune reported Dec. 26.

The 8-foot-high mound is composed largely of what appears to be plastic bags and other materials leaking into the Merrimack River, said Rocky Morrison, head of the Clean River Project.

The Newark Group, which owns the 23-acre former mill site, has a prospective buyer for the property, according to its general counsel David Ascher, the Eagle-Tribune reported.

A sale of the property would require an environmental review, said City Councilor Sven Amirian. The buyer and The Newark Group would need to agree on who would pay for the cleanup, Amirian added.

Mayor James Fiorentini is talking with the prospective buyer in hopes that a new development will eventually be built on the site, with public access to the riverfront, the Eagle-Tribune reported.

Haverhill operated at the site for more than 100 years, until parent company the Newark Group closed the 174-worker facility, citing high energy costs.

The primary source of this article is the Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Massachusetts, on Dec. 26, 2011. 
 

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