Olin Keeps Testing Six Lakes — And Community Patience

John Duff, an environmental analyst at the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), was rounding up his summary of the testing the Olin Corporation had so far conducted at the Six Lakes site in southern Hamden, to figure out how polluted it is in order to make a plan to remediate it.

It was part of DEEP’s annual community meeting, held at Keefe Community Center on Pine Street in Hamden Wednesday evening, to inform the public regarding the status of the cleanup. Several dozen people attended. “A very large quantity of data has been obtained over the past few years,” Duff said.

But “you got to understand that this is a 102-acre property, and additional characterization is still required for both known and potential areas of concern.” “Too slow,” a community member interjected. “It’s been 40 years.” That was the tone of the meeting about Six Lakes, a.k.a. the Powder Farm, a.k.a the Pine Swamp, a 102.5-acre parcel of land and water — bordered by Treadwell Street, Leeder Hill Drive, Putnam Avenue, and the Farmington Canal Trail — with a complex history ( read about that here ).