EPA Launches Five-Year Review of Durham Meadows Superfund Site Cleanup

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began a legally required five-year review of the Durham Meadows Superfund site on February 13, 2026, assessing whether remediation efforts have kept residents safe from volatile organic compound contamination traced to decades of manufacturing operations on Durham's Main Street.

Durham Meadows is one of eight New England Superfund sites selected for five-year review in 2026. Federal law requires the EPA to conduct these evaluations at sites where hazardous substances remain above levels that would permit unrestricted land use, ensuring cleanup remedies continue to function as designed.

"Making sure the remedy is operating as intended is important to protecting stakeholders, communities, and the surrounding environment," said Mark Sanborn, EPA New England Regional Administrator.

What Led to the Durham Meadows Cleanup

Contamination at the Durham Meadows site stems from volatile organic compounds used historically by the Durham Manufacturing Company and the former Merriam Manufacturing Company, both of which operated metal cabinet manufacturing facilities at 201 Main Street. The Durham Manufacturing Company, which has operated at the site since 1922, remains an active facility today.

EPA signed the original Record of Decision establishing the cleanup framework in 2005, later amending it through an Explanation of Significant Differences in September 2011. The Record of Decision set the legal and technical blueprint for all subsequent remediation work at the site.

Key Remediation Milestones in Durham and Middletown

In response to groundwater contamination, EPA installed bedrock monitoring wells and conducted sampling from 2018 to 2023 to track plume movement and contaminant levels. A new water line was constructed to connect affected Durham residents to the Middletown Water Distribution System, with construction beginning in September 2019 and the line entering service in July 2022.

Local management of the water system transitioned to the Town of Durham and the City of Middletown in 2025. Also in 2025, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection completed a final year of EPA-funded long-term groundwater monitoring. Responsibility for future monitoring now rests with state and local authorities.

Active cleanup work at the Durham Manufacturing Company facility itself continues. Excavation of contaminated soil hot spots at 201 Main Street is expected to be completed by spring 2026.

What the Five-Year Review Will Examine

The five-year review will evaluate all components of the existing remedy — including the water line infrastructure, groundwater monitoring network, and ongoing soil remediation at the Durham Manufacturing Company property — to determine whether they continue to protect human health and the environment.

Five-year reviews are mandatory under federal Superfund law whenever hazardous contamination remains at a site after cleanup construction is complete. The review covers developments since the previous five-year evaluation, examining whether contaminant levels have changed and whether institutional controls remain in place and effective.

Upon completion, the full review report will be publicly available on the site's EPA Superfund profile page.

Durham and Middletown Now Share Oversight Responsibilities

With federal involvement in day-to-day monitoring winding down, the Town of Durham and City of Middletown now operate and maintain the water system that replaced contaminated private wells for affected residents. The transition marks a shift in the cleanup's lifecycle — from active federal remediation toward long-term local stewardship of the infrastructure.

The five-year review gives EPA an opportunity to assess how that transition is functioning and whether any additional federal action is warranted. If the review identifies deficiencies in the remedy's protectiveness, EPA could require additional investigation or corrective measures at the site.

Durham Meadows is listed on EPA's National Priorities List, the federal registry of the nation's most seriously contaminated sites. Inclusion on the list makes a site eligible for federal Superfund cleanup funding and triggers long-term federal oversight.

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