The University has released an interim plan to cap a site known as the F Lot Landfill Closure Area. This area is included in the Landfill Remediation Project that also encompasses the inactive University landfill and former chemical pits.

Most recently a parking lot, F Lot was once used for waste disposal. The interim plan is designed to prevent the leaching of contaminants from soils into the groundwater.

UConn is proposing to cap the site with an impermeable, very flexible polyethylene (VFPE) membrane as an interim measure. The surface of the cap will be paved and drainage will be controlled, allowing the area to be used as a parking lot while minimizing excavation and the movement of waste material.

The goal of capping the site is to reduce the possibility that any contaminants in soils will leach into the groundwater. Leaching is most likely to occur when rain and melting snow percolate downward through soils that are exposed. The cap will reduce this infiltration in the portions of F Lot Landfill Closure Area that have been disturbed leaving exposed soil.

The F Lot landfill closure will not affect work connected with the hydrogeologic investigation being undertaken as part of the Landfill Remediation Project. Soil and groundwater testing is scheduled for this site, including the installation of monitoring wells to evaluate groundwater quality and flow directions.

Because the final disposition of F Lot Landfill Closure is subject to the University's Consent Order with DEP, including the results of the hydrogeologic investigation, this is an interim closure plan. Additional investigations and a different final closure may be required for the site, based on results of the hydrogeologic investigation.

The first draft of the interim closure plan was sent to the Technical Review Committee on January 20. Comments and inquiries on the draft plan are welcome and should be sent by April 12 to Jim Pietrzak, Project Manager, 31 LeDoyt Road, U-38, Storrs, CT 06269-3038. Pietrzak can also be reached by phone at (860) 486-5836.

In addition, UConn will respond to comments on the interim closure plan made by EPA, Town of Mansfield consultants, and other technical reviewers. The closure plan will be available in the repositories after April 19.

Sherry Fisher