A prominent property just outside the town limits of Clayton that has been abandoned for decades could soon be redeveloped.
The site is the former Borden Chemical and Lebanon Chemical plant at 4474 Wheatleys Pond Road, on the south side of Route 300. The property borders the railroad tracks on the east, homes to the west, and Wheatleys Pond to the north at School Lane.
Wheatleys Pond Plaza LLC bought the 5.81-acre property for $416,500 from Lebanon Chemical Corporation, now known as Lebanon Seaboard Corporation, in a sale recorded Sept. 26, according to Kent County property records. Lebanon Chemical bought the property from Borden Chemical in 1981.
What type of redevelopment is proposed?
The property is zoned "limited industrial," according to Kent County tax records.
Plans for the site aren’t decided yet, said Jim Willis and John Gambacorta, business partners in Wheatleys Pond Plaza LLC.
“Our initial intent was flex space for commercial use and warehouses,” Willis said.
The idea is to construct a building with separate spaces for multiple tenants such as contractors, plumbers or electricians to use as a business location and/or storage space, or for any company that needs warehouse space.
Willis and Gambacorta said they are hoping to get value for their investment in a site that’s on a main road, near Clayton and Smyrna with access to utilities and the railroad tracks with a spur.
“Not many properties have all that,” said Willis. “The question is what’s the best use.”
There may be a company interested in using the entire site for manufacturing, or Willis and Gambacorta may resell the property.
Funds are available for environmental cleanup
According to DNREC records, the site was used by agricultural chemical suppliers since the early 1950s. The site is vacant but DNREC records didn’t say for how long.
Clayton Councilman Skip Carrow estimated the property has been vacant for at least 20 years.
The only building still standing on the property is a warehouse. The site also has several concrete foundations from former buildings and an inground scale. Most of the property is trees, brush and grass.
The property has been classified as a “brownfield” by DNREC because of past chemical contamination.
For those who want to redevelop a site like this, DNREC negotiates a brownfields agreement to guide the site investigation and, if necessary, a remedial plan to address risks to human health and/or the environment posed by past releases of hazardous substances.
The brownfields program offers the developer protection from potential liability for any existing environmental conditions at the property.
A brownfield developer can also qualify to be reimbursed by DNREC for approved cleanup costs up to $250,000 and an additional $100,000 for DNREC-approved groundwater, soil, and soil gas remedial actions.
“We have to determine what the cleanup’s going to cost and the funds that are available for remediation,” Willis said. “There is a risk that cleaning up the contamination exceeds the allotted amount available from DNREC.”
DNREC has certified over 300 sites as brownfields which have been successfully remediated and redeveloped.
“We see this as an opportunity to help the community by cleaning it. That’s the most important thing,” said Willis. “Then we’ll make a decision on the best use for the property.”
What chemicals could be on the property?
A 2015 letter from the state planning office was sent to the town of Clayton because the town was considering annexation of the property in its comprehensive plan.
In the letter, the planning office said an investigation was conducted in 2002 and “the site did not pose a threat to human or environmental health as long as it remained zoned as commercial/light industrial.
The letter did note, however, that "additional remediation may be required if the Bordon Chemical property will be used for residential purposes.”
DNREC said during that inspection that arsenic and beryllium were detected in two groundwater samples at the site at concentrations exceeding the Hazardous Substance Screening Act screening levels, while soil samples contained arsenic, benzo [b] fluoranthene and benzo [a] pyrene above HSCA screening levels.
Also, "possible underground storage tanks containing diesel and/or gasoline are suspected" at the site, according to a report by Environmental Alliance for Wheatleys Pond Plaza LLC.
In a letter to Lebanon Chemical on March 12, 2019, the DNREC Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances wrote that the property is eligible for “conditional no further action” status based on the review of the site inspection in 2002.
The letter stated there was “no exceedance above acceptable risk at the site under current conditions.”
The requirements to keep the "conditional no further action" status included:
Now that Wheatleys Pond Plaza LLC has proposed redeveloping the site, another site inspection has been scheduled starting this month.
DNREC said a brownfield investigation usually takes about six to 12 months. If some type of cleanup or condition is required, a public notice will be issued about the remedial action plan.
Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate and development news. Reach him at [email protected].