Demolition almost done
Officials with Electrolux Home Products, Inc., report that demolition of the former Americold plant on U.S. Highway 31 North is on schedule.
Only scattered mounds of debris remain at what was the site of a 400,000 square feet compressor manufacturing plant that operated in Cullman for 38 years from 1964 to 2002.
"I expect the remaining piles of debris to be gone by the first of August," said Doug Mix, vice president of regulatory affairs for Electrolux. "We've contracted with Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. of Chicago, Ill., for the demolition and we are absolutely pleased as can be with the job they're doing."
The price tag for the demolition is estimated at $279,000.
In March 2005, the Cullman Industrial Development Board, which owned the 69-acre industrial site, filed suit against Electrolux claiming the company illegally disposed of barrels containing chemicals, solvents and hazardous substances on the property.
Those chemical substances, the lawsuit stated, include solvents such as trichloroethane (TCA) and trichloroethene (TCE). One environmental engineering firm which conducted tests at the site in the summer of 2003 on behalf of Dynasty Boats, which at the time was considering a move of its pleasure boat manufacturing operation, reported contaminants exceeded allowable levels by more than 1,000 times in soil and ground water samples.
Local officials say the contamination rendered the tract "unmarketable."
As a result of the lawsuit and environmental issues at the site, Electrolux earlier this year entered into an arrangement with the ID board in which the lawsuit was resolved.
As part of that arrangement, Electrolux agreed to acquire the Americold property from the ID board. Other stipulations of the arrangement are not known due to a confidentiality agreement between the parties.
What is known is that Electrolux has assumed responsibility for turning the property into a viable industrial site once again.
"Our objective is to return this site to a condition that meets the definition of an industrial site. That definition didn't exist 40 years ago, but it does today and our goal is to meet that definition with the approval and under the watchful eye of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management," Mix said. "The process will evolve in stages."
Mix said there will be a remedial investigation and then an indoor process of what remedial efforts will be required to make the location viable again and all of that will be scripted by ADEM.
"It's a very in-depth process so I guess the best way for us to put it is to say the next step is to figure out what to do next based on the results of ADEM's investigation," Mix said. "Whatever that time frame will be is anyone's guess. Like the old expression, 'It is what it is.'"
During the demolition, Mix said workers have uncovered a quantity of what he called "construction debris," things like pieces of bricks, blocks, wood, and pieces of the building used as fill material on the property.
"It's ironic that most of the material we're finding in our sampling at the site was put there strictly for the purpose of bringing the property up to grade," Mix said.
Mix said local inspectors have also visited the site and have determined that the contractor is cooperating fully and meeting all requirements in regard to dust emissions and other environmental issues. Rick Fulmer, Cullman building inspector, confirmed that he has visited the site several times during demolition and has found the contractor to be in compliance with all applicable regulations and requirements.
"I've visited the site twice in response to dust complaints. On each occasion the site manager was very courteous and cooperative. The first time we found no problem and on the second visit we detected some dust at the rear of the property. The contractor increased the amount of water used to wet down the area and that was taken care of," Fulmer said.
Fulmer said he feels the company is conscious of the fact that the public is concerned whenever there is an abatement "and they have been very good to work with."
"The demolition has been done in a timely and very professional manner," Fulmer said. "It's my understanding the site will be cleared next month and then the soil work will begin in September. How extensive a process that will be no one knows at this time."
Americold employed approximately 475 people at the time of its closure in March 2002. It was owned first by Bendix-Westinghouse. White Consolidated Industries bought Americold in 1971 and Electrolux purchased White in 1986.
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