BERLIN — The company looking at cleaning up the Dummer Yard landfill said it has spent more than $2 million studying contamination at the landfill. That testing has found high levels of unsafe compounds.
“The test results show significant concentrations of unsafe compounds in surface water, groundwater and soil samples collected between October and November 2025,” LFOD Northwoods reported. The results also showed dangerous levels of PFAS and PHAS) compounds, as well as hazardous concentrations of certain heavy metals.
In addition to the concentration levels, the landfill was not closed and capped properly and the city is struck treating more than 4 million gallons of leachate annually.
IFOD, a combination of WL French Excavating Corporation and North and South Construction, report they are trying to be transparent about what they are calling the Dummer Yard Repurposing Project. Those efforts include public information sessions and meetings with business people, elected officials, and residents. Currently the company has mailings are going out to all residents. Four members of the company last week briefed the Berlin Sun on their plans and the company is posting information on a web page.
Jake McManus of LFOD described how the intermittent stream that runs from Success Pond Road, continues through Dummer Yard to the Androscoggin River. A holding area near the lime ash pile and the sludge landfill now gets overrun and makes its way toward the river.
“Our understanding is no one’s drinking the ground water, but that ground water does go out to the Androscoggin River, so it does eventually get into the environment further down,’’ said Jarrett Everton.
Groundwater and surface water sampling were taken by Sanborn Head & Associates on behalf of the LFOD. In compliance with state and federal regulations, the project team has reported its findings to the N.H. Department of Environmental Services. IFOD has posted the results on its website, Betterberlinnh. com. Some results are significantly above standards. For example, the arsenic level is four times the standard – others are a thousand times above standards.
Jarratt Everton of LFOD said remediating Dummer Yard would cost $20 million to $30 million. To generate the needed revenue, the project would build a soil monofill that would accept contaminated soil from across New England. Then soil landfill would include building materials, incinerator ash, asbestos soils, street sweepings, catch basis waste and sewer grit.
Opponents to the project have submitted a petition to the city council with hundreds of signatures. The petitioners support cleaning up the landfill but oppose adding a soil monofill. Instead, the petition said the state should cover the cost of remediating the landfill.
The opponents cite the added truck traffic that would be generated by the soil monofill. Combined with traffic from the Mount Carberry landfill and the Burgess BioPower biomass plant, the petitioners say the noise and dust will reduce property values in that part of the city. They fear the monofill will create a reputation for Berlin as a dumping ground for contaminated waste.
IFOD spokesman Scott Tranchemontagne said the soil monofill would be temporary with a lifespan of about ten years. He said it will then be properly capped and secured.
He said the project would have significant financial benefits for the city. Berlin would receive $10 million from the soil monofill over the life of the project. How the money is spent would be up to the city. The landfill would pay annual property taxes and would pay Berlin to treat leachate.
Jake McManus said the truck traffic is a sign of commercial activity and jobs. He estimated the project would create a total of 50 to 60 jobs.
Dummer Yard landfill, located off Hutchins Street, has existed for over 100 years and was used for paper mill wastes. When the paper mill went bankrupt, a bond to pay for corrective measures and continue post-closure care ran out in 2018 . The state Department of Environmental Services has identified issues with the leachate management system and the cap that covers the landfill.
IFOD has a purchase and sales agreement to purchase the entire 400-acre property from the bankrupt Pulp and Paper Company. If the repurpose plan goes forward, there would be 200 acres available for other commercial purposes.
Tranchemontagne said remediating Dummer Yard would show that the city is serious about cleaning up its contaminated areas. With no state or federal funding currently available to clean up Dummer Yard, the privately owned LFOD is offering a solution.
IFOD plans to submit an application to determine if it is eligible for the N.H. Brownsfield Covenant Program. The program provides liability protection for the investigation, cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties by persons who did not cause or contribute to the contamination. If ruled eligible, then LFOD would submit a full Brownsfield application. On a separate track, the company would submit its remedial action plan to DES, describing the proposed actions it would take to clean up the site.
Tranchemontagne said LFOD has not made a final decision on moving forward with a complete application.
“But we are doing all the steps and gathering all the information that is necessary to get us to that point to make a decision,” he said.