MONROE — A sagging section of an 1877-built Ramage Paper mill is in danger of falling into the Deerfield River — putting the river at risk of hazardous waste and pollutants from building debris and potentially affecting downstream recreational use of the river.
Monroe town officials and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) are trying to secure an estimated $260,000 needed for hazardous waste removal and demolition costs for the crumbling, wooden structure, according to Regional Health Agent Glen Ayers. FRCOG is drafting a letter to several state agencies, alerting them to the danger, in hopes of obtaining help to get the work done as quickly as possible.
“TransCanada has told us that the building has significantly deteriorated even more, and they’re very concerned,” Ayers said this week. If the building were to fall into the river, it could pollute the stream and affect water releases that benefit whitewater rafting and kayaking in the river.
The property is owned by a Jeffrey Phillips of Connecticut, who bought it in 1996, and whose “Monroe Bridge Holding Corp.” was dissolved by the Massachusetts Secretary of State in 2012. Phillips has not paid taxes since 1999 on the 4-acre complex at 16 Depot St. Phillips has been unresponsive to town officials and others who have tried to contact him, to get permission to access the building for inspections.
The old building was condemned last year, and it has been on FRCOG’s Brownfield Program for at least a decade, according to Ayers.
“Our concerns are about the launch site for the Deerfield No. 5,” said Matthew Cole, TransCanada’s local community relations specialist. He was referring to the hydroelectric facility directly upstream from where whitewater rafters put in.
“We have concerns for safety and for the environment if that stuff goes in the river,” said Cole. “We’re working with the FRCOG, proactively trying to put some attention on this — because, apparently, the landowner has walked away from this.”
In March, a townwide meeting was held to address the continued declining condition of the building — especially the green, wooden portion that appears to be close to collapsing. Town officials agreed with Ayers to take the issue to Housing Court to gain emergency access. Housing Court permitted the emergency access, and the engineering firm Tighe and Bond conducted a hazardous materials survey and demolition cost estimate for that portion of the building.
Ayers said the long-term goal would be to go through a similar assessment for the larger, brick section of the mill.
In the late 1800s, the pulp mill and paper mill hovering above the Deerfield River churned out “box paper” for the James Ramage Paper Co.
The pulp mill was badly damaged in 1902 when the dam and roadway above the plant was were washed away.
Then it was repaired and sold to the Monroe Bridge Paper Co. in 1913. In 1922, it changed hands again, becoming the Deerfield Valley Paper Co. and then the Deerfield Glassine Co. There was a name change to Deerfield Specialty Paper Co., which produced jobs and paper in Monroe until 1996.
In recent years, a nozzle business called Spray Research Inc. was housed in the building, but is no longer doing business there.