DES Waste Management Division 29 Hazen Drive; PO Box 95 Concord, NH 03302-0095 ASTM Phase I Environmental Assessment Canaan Hydroelectric Station Stewartstown, NH NHDES Site #: 200609059 Project Number: 35945 Prepared For: Eversource Energy 780 North Commercial Street Manchester, NH 03101 Phone Number (603) 634-2851 RP Contact Name: William H. Smagula RP Contact Email: [email protected] Prepared By: Haley & Aldrich, Inc. 3 Bedford Farms Drive Bedford, NH 03110 Phone Number: (603) 625-5353 Contact Name: Amy B. Dykstra Contact Email: [email protected] Date of Report: 20 November 2015 File No. 60444-110 Cover Sheet for Reports Template - Revised January 2011 www.haleyaldrich.com REPORT ON ASTM PHASE I ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENT CANAAN HYDROELECTRIC STATION CANAAN, VERMONT by Haley & Aldrich, Inc. Bedford, New Hampshire for Eversource Energy Manchester, New Hampshire File No. 60444‐110 20 November 2015 HALEY & ALDRICH, INC. 3 Bedford Farms Drive Bedford, NH 03110 (603) 625.5353 20 November 2015 File No. 60444-110 Eversource Energy 780 North Commercial Street Manchester, New Hampshire 03101 Attention: Ms. Linda Landis Senior Counsel Subject: ASTM Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Canaan Hydroelectric Station Canaan, Vermont Ladies and Gentlemen: The enclosed report contains the results of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I) conducted at the Canaan Hydroelectric Station located at 108 Powerhouse Road in Canaan, Vermont (herein referred to as the “subject site”). This work was performed by Haley & Aldrich, Inc. (Haley & Aldrich), in accordance with our proposal to Eversource Energy dated 24 July 2015 (“Agreement”) as authorized via Purchase Order 02279342 dated 3 August 2015. This Phase I was conducted in conformance with the scope and limitations of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E 1527-13 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process as referenced in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 312 (the All Appropriate Inquiries [AAI] Rule). The objective of a Phase I is to assess whether known and suspect “recognized environmental conditions” (REC), controlled RECs (CREC), or historical RECs (HREC) are associated with the subject site, as defined in the ASTM E 1527-13 Standard. This Phase I has revealed evidence of one REC associated with the subject site. www.haleyaldrich.com Eversource Energy 20 November 2015 Page 2 Thank you for the opportunity to perform these services for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or comments. Sincerely yours, HALEY & ALDRICH, INC. Joanna Sebik, E.I.T. Amy B. Dykstra, P.E. Staff Engineer Project Manager Robert A. Mullin, P.E. Vice President Enclosures G:\- PROJECTS\604-\60444\Canaan Hydro\Report\Final Report Nov 2015\2015-1120-HAI-Canaan ASTM Phase I-F.docx Executive Summary Haley & Aldrich, Inc. (Haley & Aldrich) has performed a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (Phase I) of the Canaan Hydroelectric Station in Canaan, Vermont (herein referred to as the “subject site”). This Phase I was performed for Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) doing business as Eversource Energy (Eversource) in support of the potential sale of the property as part of the divestiture of its generating facilities. This Phase I was performed in conformance with the scope and limitations of the ASTM E 1527-13 Standard and All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule1. Deviations from this Standard, if any, are described in Section 1.4 of this report. This executive summary provides a bullet list of key findings including recognized environmental conditions (RECs) identified during this Phase I followed by a more detailed summary of the Phase I report. KEY FINDINGS One REC, creosote-impacted soil below the former woodstave penstock, was identified in connection with the subject site. However, the impacted soil has been removed, and regulatory closure related to the remedial action is currently pending. CRECs were not identified in connection with the subject site. Haley & Aldrich does not recommend additional assessment. SUBJECT SITE DESCRIPTION The Canaan Hydroelectric Station is an approximately six-and-a-half acre site in Canaan, Vermont in the Connecticut River Valley (Figure 1). The subject site is located approximately 520 ft north of Vermont State Route 114/Gale Street on Powerhouse Road. The subject site is located on the Vermont/New Hampshire state border. An Eversource substation located on the subject site was not included in the subject site assessment for the current Phase I. BACKGROUND The subject site was included in an uncompleted portfolio of environmental site assessments (ESAs) conducted by Haley & Aldrich in 1998 and 1999 in connection with the anticipated sale of PSNH’s generating facilities at that time. ESAs were discontinued and not finalized when the sale of the facilities was terminated. The previous ESAs included a due diligence assessment and limited investigation of the subject site in 1998 and 1999; however, the work was not done in accordance with the current ASTM standard. Environmental data and findings from the previous work were accessed from Eversource’s and Haley & Aldrich’s internal records for use in the current Phase I. Results of the previous ESA and limited investigation are referenced within Section 3 of this Phase I report. 1 American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E 1527-13 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process as referenced in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 312 (the All Appropriate Inquiries [AAI] Rule) (“ASTM E 1527-13 Standard”). Specified terms as are used in ASTM E 1527-13 are in italics in this report and defined in the Glossary at the end of the report text. i OBJECTIVE The objective of a Phase I is to assess whether “recognized environmental conditions” (REC), controlled RECs (CREC), and historical RECs (HREC) are associated with the subject site. Haley & Aldrich’s conclusions are intended to help the user evaluate the “business environmental risk”2 associated with the subject site. Haley & Aldrich’s opinion regarding a REC's potential impact on the subject site is based on the scope of our work, the information obtained during the course of our work, the conditions prevailing at the time our work was performed, the applicable regulatory requirements in effect at the time our work was performed, and on our experience evaluating similar sites. RECOGNIZED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS The ASTM E 1527-13 Standard defines a REC in part as “the presence or likely presence of any hazardous substances or petroleum products in, on, or at a property: (1) due to any release to the environment; (2) under conditions indicative of a release to the environment; or (3) under conditions that pose a material threat of a future release to the environment.” The following REC was identified in connection with the subject site. REC #1: 2009 Creosote-Impacted Soil Excavation and Disposal Creosote-impacted soils were identified below the former woodstave penstock. A Site Investigation was completed by the Johnson Company in May 2009. A soil management plan was developed for the subject site. Impacted soil was removed and disposed off-site in September 2009, in conjunction with replacement of the penstock. Approximately 1,447 tons of soil were shipped to Casella USA Landfill in Coventry, Vermont in September 2009. The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC), a division of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (VTANR), closed the spill file on 20 July 2009. Despite remediation of the impacted soils, the hazardous site file remains open on the VTDEC database. Eversource submitted a request to close the file along with documentation regarding soil removal on 29 September 2015 and, at the time of this Phase I, has not yet received a response. Upon achievement of regulatory closure, this REC can be considered an HREC. CONTROLLED RECOGNIZED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS The ASTM E 1527-13 Standard defines a CREC as a recognized environmental condition resulting from a past release of hazardous substances or petroleum products that has been addressed to the satisfaction of the applicable regulatory authority with hazardous substances or petroleum products allowed to remain in place subject to the implementation of required controls. CRECs were not identified in connection with the subject site. 2 Business Environmental Risk defined in ASTM E 1527-13 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments as a risk which can have a material environmental or environmentally-driven impact on the business associated with the current or planned use of a parcel of commercial real estate, not necessarily limited to those environmental issues required to be investigated in this practice. Consideration of business environmental risk issues may involve addressing one or more non-scope considerations. ii HISTORICAL RECOGNIZED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS The ASTM E 1527-13 Standard defines an HREC as “a past release of any hazardous substances or petroleum products that has occurred in connection with the property and has been addressed to the satisfaction of the applicable regulatory authority or meeting unrestricted use criteria established by a regulatory authority, without subjecting the property to any required controls (for example, property use restrictions, activity and use limitations, institutional controls, or engineering controls).” HRECs were not identified in connection