A condominium association on Park Street has hired environmental consultants to help figure out what’s causing an odor and fumes rising from catch basins and drains outside the complex, officials say.
Emergency responders first visited the Park Mead Condominiums in mid-October following a report of an odor in the building, according to Fire Marshal Paul Payne.
“After some searching I noticed a fairly strong odor of what I thought to be a solvent of some sort coming from this catch basin,” Payne told NewCanaanite.com in response to a request for information. “Noting the white staining on the grates, it seemed a painter cleaned his painting equipment and dumped it in the catch basin. After several weeks of the odor continuing, even after heavy rain events, the association hired an environmental consultant to try to get to the bottom of this. They are currently in the investigation stage.”
The 1956-built Park Mead development includes 46 units.
Payne and Fire Chief Albe Bassett reported on the issue during the Nov. 11 Fire Commission meeting, held at the firehouse on Main Street.
There, Payne described the problem as “chronic” and said that he felt bad for the residents there.
“It’s just been chronic,” Payne said.
He added: “The readings in the house, they did hire an environmental firm and he went and metered everything with a PIB and got a very, very low reading indoors, barely enough to register. But there are still fumes coming out of the catch basins and drains outside. That’s the last that I heard. That’s the report from the initial investigation and they are formulating a plan to go forward.”
PIB stands for Polyisobutylene, a fuel additive used to keep engine parts clear of sludge, soot and other deposits.