[REDACTED] INTERVIEW REPORT NO. 4 - POTENTIALLY ...

^-r—-v? r.r,~j.Vj [ALLIANCETechnologies Corporation ^, - •• , • ,

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June 24, 1992

Attorney Lloyd SelbstU.S. Environmental Protection AgencyAssistant Regional CouncilJFK Federal Building, RCT-23Boston, Massachusetts 02203

Reference: Contract No. 68-W9-0003, TES 6Worlc Assignment No. C01155Fletcher's Paint WorksPotentially Responsible Party Search(Ref. l635-293)

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I5KI:Ak:Ol KLk:

Subject: Deliverable:

Dear Mr. Selbst:

Interview Report No. 4

As directed by the EPA Work Assignment Manager, enclosed is a copyof the Interview Report No. 4 for the Fletcher's Paint Works site,Milford, New Hampshire.

The interviews were conducted by the Blake investigative Agency, aTES -6 Team member, from May 8, 1992 to May 16, 1992. A copy of anaffidavit obtained during this period is provided in appendix A.A copy of the Interview Reports are included in Appendix B. Thissubmit tal satisfies a deliverable requirement for this WorkAssignment and is an Attorney Work Product, prepared inanticipation of Litigation.

Questions regarding this submission should be directed to theAlliance Project Manager, Martha Sparlin at (508) 970-5757 ext5266.

Sincerely yours,

Martha SparlinProject Manager

MS /egEnclosure

cc: Mary H. Grealish/EPA Regional Project Officer (letter only)Cheryl Sprague/EPA Work Assignment ManagerNancy Toy/TES-6 Contracting Officer (letter only)William J. Farino/Alliance Regional Manager (letter only)

813453

INTERIM DELIVERABLEINTERVIEW REPORT NO. 4

FLETCHER'S PAINT WORKSPOTENTIALLY RESPONSIBLE PARTY SEARCH

MILFORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Prepared for

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYWaste Management Division

JFK Federal BuildingBoston, Massachusetts 02203

Work Assignment No.:EPA Site/Facility I.D. No.:

Contract No.:Alliance Document No.:Alliance Project No.:

Alliance Project Manager:Alliance Telephone No.:

Subcontractors:-TechLaw-Temple Barker & Sloane

-Blake Investigative Agency

EPA Work Assignment Manager:Telephone No.:Date Prepared:

C01155

NHDOO1079649

68-W9-0003 (TES-6)A92-8141-635-293-0-1BD1-0

Martha Sparlin(508) 970-5600

Kimberly Rees (617) 720-0320

Marc Blaustein (617) 861-7580

Marty Blake (617) 479-0113

Cheryl Sprague(617) 573-9624June 24, 1992

RECYCLED PAPER

ALLIANCE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONBoott Mills South

Foot of John StreetLowell, Massachusetts 01852

(508) 970-5600

ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL

Privileged WorkProduct Prepared in

Anticipation of Litigation813454

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section Page

1.0 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2.0 PROJECT APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3.0 RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Appendices Page

A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A - l

B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-l

TABLES

Number Page

1 Interview Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A92-814.txt

RECYCLED PAPER ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL

PrMtogtd Worknroduct Pteparf i

Anticipation of Litigation

813455ALLIANCE


!.» PRODUCTION Anticipation of IJBgaBonThe following Draft Interview Report No. 4 is prepared under EPA Contract No. 68-W9-0003, (TES-6) Work Assignment No. CO 1155. EPA requested assistance toconduct interviews detailed in Alliance Technologies Revised Work Plan No. 1, datedMarch 4, 1992.

As part of the assignment, Alliance was requested by EPA to conduct additionalinvestigative work which included obtaining a signed affidavit by Mr. Elmer Cozzens,a former employee of General Electric, and conducting several interviews ofindividuals who have knowledge of the operations and procedures at the SpragueElectric facilities located in Kingston, New York, and North Adams, Massachusetts.This report provides the results of those interviews.

Blake Investigative Agency (BIA) was tasked by Alliance to conduct the interviews asspecified by the EPA approved Work Plan (Task 5) dated October 14, 1991. At therequest of EPA, Alliance is submitting the BIA interview reports unedited. Allianceacknowledges that some or all of the reports may contain some typographical errors,and therefore are being submitted as DRAFT reports. Corrections to these reports willbe made prior to their inclusion into the Final Report for this site.

2.0 PROJECT APPROACH

Alliance directed Blake Investigative Agency (BIA) to conduct interviews of formeremployees of Sprague Electric. This report presents the results of BIA's effortsconducted from May 8 to May 16, 1992.

3.0 RESULTS

Blake Investigative Agency personnel travelled to North Adams, Massachusetts tointerview one previously identified former employee of Sprague Electric who mightpossibly provide information pertaining to its operations.

The original interviewee provided additional leads which resulted in BIA personnelconducting a total of ten new interviews.

A total of eleven individuals were interviewed during this period. Table 1 providesthe names of the individuals interviewed and the date on which the interview occurred.Mr. Cozzens was included in the Table as BIA personnel revisited him to obtain thesigned affidavit of information provided during a previous field investigation. A copyof the document identified as the affidavit of Elmer Cozzens is attached to this reportas Appendix A. The original affidavit was submitted to the EPA WAM by BIApersonnel. BIA's investigative reports are provided in Appendix B.

A92-814.txt 1 SI 3 4 56

mRECYCLED PAPER ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL l± ALLIANCE-

TABLE 1. INTERVIEW CONTACTS



Name Date Result Employer

Stanley Bagdon

Joe Bianchi

Florence Clough

Elmer Cozzens

Lou Damiano

Emile Jobin

John Rosse

5/12/92 Interviewed

5/10/92 Interviewed

5/16/92 Interviewed

5/13/92 InterviewedAffidavit

5/14/92 Interviewed(Telephone)

5/15/92 Interviewed

5/12/92 Interviewed

5/16/92 Interviewed

5/15/92 Interviewed

Sprague ElectricNorth Adams, MA - 1943-1978



General ElectricBurlington, VT - 1951-1956Hudson Falls, NY - 1956-1987Ft. Edwards, NY






A92-814.txt


S13457Xrt ALLIANCEf4*f4f^ Technolr.i.rsCoioO'awn

TABLE 1 (CONTINUED)

Privileged WorkProduct Prepared In


Name Date Result Employer

James Smith 5/8/92 Interviewed

Peter Wol 5/9/92 Interviewed

Sprague ElectricKingston, NY - 1953-1957Nashua and Concord, NH -1959-1980


1980-1987Visalia, CA - 1969-1972Nashua, NH - 1972-1975

A92-814.txt


913453

ALLIANCE

Twelve additional names have been obtained as a result of this investigative effort. However,five of the twelve have been determined to be deceased. It is anticipated that BIA will attemptto contact the remaining seven after discussion with Alliance and EPA, to determine whether ornot current employees of General Electric and Sprague Commonwealth may be interviewed.

area.1. Larry Mareau - Believed to be in2. Vincent Tassone - Believed _______3. John Ager - GE employee ^^^^^^ - not contacted.4. Ted Candilaro - Sprague Electric employee - not contacted.

6. Bob Hayes - Security Guard - Sprague Commonwealth, not contacted.7. Walt Maynard - Believed to be inl


Anticipation of LitigationA92-814.txt

RECYCLED PAPER ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIALS4W4

313459ALLIANCETecnno»og»es Co potation

APPENDIX A

A92-814.txt



A-I 813460RECYCLED PAPER ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL ^ ALLIANCE

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813462

APPENDIX B



313463RECYCLED PAPER ENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL ALLIANCE

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HI _ __ _ __„ _ _ _ _ _

IN ANTICIPATION OF LITIGAiiiENFORCEMENTCONFIDENTIAL"

Details of a conference with Stanley Bag don - 5/12/92

At approximately 11:3O A.M., I met Mr. Bagdon at his home

located at _ _ _ _ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ lHis telephone number is

He was employed by Sprague Electric, -From 1943

until he retired in 1978. This report was prepared by the Blake

Investigative Agency.

He began work as a Lab Technician and became Production

Foreman, on the -first shift at the Brown St. plant in 1951, where

chloronol was used to impregnate capacitors. The impregnation

department was located in the basement o-f the Brown St. plant.

The process began when paper and foil were wrapped around a

mandrel, after which tabs were welded onto covers. The mandrel

was then placed into a can and a cover was welded onto the can,

which had one small hole in it. This can was degreased and put

into trays or metal baskets and sent to the impregnation

department, where it was placed in a liner, which slid into the

impregnation tank. The liners were 1O' to 12' in length and 3' to

4' in height and filled with baskets of capacitors. After the

liners were placed into the impregnation tanks, the doors to the

tanks were closed and a vacuum was drawn on the tank, while it

was being heated. There were 6 to 7 impregnation tanks, each with

their own vacuum pump. The purpose of the vacuum and heating was

to remove as much moisture from the capacitor as possible, so as

to prevent short circuits within the capacitor. Oil was then

drawn into the liner, under vacuum (see diagram), until all the

capacitors within the liner were covered with oil. The oil level

DRAFT

m^itanley Bagdon Report -5/12/92

by Blake Investigative Agency

in the liner is monitored through a porthole on the tank. The oil

in the liner is then sucked into the capacitors via the small

hole in their covers, after which nitrogen is forced into the

tanks, so that the pressure within the tank is increased, forcing

more oil into the capacitors. If oil overflows the liner, it is

removed through a drain line in the bottom of the tank, after

which it is refiltered and reused.

After the capacitors have been filled with oil, the liner is

removed from the tank, with the oil still covering the

capacitors, and taken to the soldering area, where the hole in

the cover of each capacitor is soldered closed and the oil in

removed from the liner. The capacitors are then degreased and

tested in Post Impregnation.

One of the sources of waste chloronol oil was the soldering

area. The capacitors had lips on them. When they were removed

from the liners, these lips contained oil. When the hole in the

cover of the capacitor was soldered under oil, the oil within the

lip of the capacitor, would become contaminated by the solder. It

could not be refiltered and reused. Each capacitor lip contained

between 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of oil and after they were soldered,

each basket full of capacitors were tipped to drain the oil out

of the capacitor lips. The oil passed through a screen and into a

line, which drained into a 55 gallon barrel. These barrels were,

both open top and bunged, and were removed by the Maintenance

813465 DRAFT

Page III Stanley Bagdon Report - 5/12/92


Department, when -full. He had no knowledge as to the volume of

barrels generated . The barrels, when -full, were placed onto

pallets and removed by forklift.

Another source of waste chloronol also originated at the

soldering station. After the oil was drained from the liners, the

interiors of the liner was cleaned with trichloroethylene. The

residue from this operation which would have been a mixture of

triclor and chloronol, was drained into a bucket, which was

emptied into the screen, which drained into the 55 gallon barrel,

at the soldering station.

When the liners were cleaned at the impregnation station,

this residue of trico and chloronol was emptied into a barrel,

which contained waste pump oil. The waste pump oil would also

contain chloronol and waste, which had been emptied into the

barrel form the vacuum line filter (see diagram).

These barrels which contained waste oil were not labeled,

but they all had funnels in them, through which oil was poured,

and were referred to a junk oil barrels.

He w i l l sign an affidavit containing the aforementioned

i nformation.

313466

Details o-f a con-ference with Joe Bianchi —5/1O/92

At approximately 11:OO A.M., I met Mr. Bianchi at his home

located on ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H His telephone numbers are

SS # is ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | He Mas employed by Sprague Electric, -from

1950 until he retired in 1982. This report was prepared by the

Blake Investigative Agency.

He worked at the Brown St. plant in No. Adams, MA, beginning

as a utility man. He became supervisor o-f post impregnation in

1956 and foreman o-f that department in 1958 and remained in that

position, until he retired. Post impregnation involved the

soldering o-f capacitors under oil, degreasing, next testing,

•flash resting, painting, capacity testing, and shipping the

capacitors to the customers.

He said that the Maintenance Department was responsible from

the removal of waste materials, which he believed were sent to

the Salvage Department, located at Marshall St.

DRAFT

513488

Details of a conference with Florence Clough — 5/16/92

At approximately 6:OO P.M., I met Mrs. Clough at her

number is ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 She was employed by Sprague, from 1942

until she retired in 1979. This report was prepared by the Blake


She worked as a secretary in the Purchasing Department, at

Brown St., in the late 1950's and early 196O's. She had no

contact with waste materials.

Larry Moreau, Vincent Tassone, and John Agar worked in the

Brown St. Purchasing Department. Mr. Agar is currently employed

by G.E. in Pittsfield, MA.

or y?:®

SI 3469

Details of a conference with Elmer Cozzens -5/13/92

At approximately 2:00 P.M., I met Mr. Cozzens at his home,

located at ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Hhfis telephone number is

This report was prepared by the Blake


He was employed by G.E., from 1951 until he retired in 1987.

He worked at the G.E. plant in Burlington, vT, from 1951 until

1956, and at the Hudson Falls and Ft. Edwards, NY plants, from

1956 until 1987.

He was Supervisor of Accounts Payable, at Hudson Falls which

handled the b i l l i n g of the Scrap and Salvage Department, from

1956 until 1961. His affidavit contains all the information he

would recall, regarding accounts payable and Fletcher Paint.

DRA! "T

o13470

Details of a conference with Lou Damiano - 5/14/92

At approximately 6:30 P.M., I contacted Mr. Damiano at his

home via telephone. He resides at

his telephone number is ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H and his D.O.B. is

He was employed by Sprague Electric, from 1942 until he

retired in 1972. This report was prepared by the Blake


He worked at the Brown St. plant in the Maintanence

Department, as an electrician. He said that barrels of junk oil,

from the impregnation department, were stored in the outside yard

area of the plant. He though that they were removed by Sprague

owned trucks, but was not definite on this point.

He said that Tony Waslonski, Art Caron, and Frank Fortini

worked at the Brown St. plant. I have determined that these men

are deceased.

'f RMIEGED WORK PRODUCT PREPARED.TIC!?,,,,r •!» f\ \\ »^"n *"*x vi

T CONFIDENTIAL"

SI 3 4 71

Details of a conference with Marie Dargie _ 5/15/92

At approximately liOO P.M., I met Mrs. Dargie at her home

located at ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 Her telephone number

i s ^ ^ ^ ^ | her D.O. B. is^ ^ l and ner ss * is

She was employed by Sprague Electric, -from 1951 until

she retired in 1979. This report was prepared by the Blake


She began work in No. Adams as a Stock Clerk and entered the

Purchasing Department in 1955. From 1955 until 1962, she was in

Material Control, whose job was to inform the Purchasing Agent,

what raw material were needed by Production. From 1962 until

1967, she was the assistant Purchasing Manager, who placed all of

the orders for all of the materials needed by Production. From

1967 until 1977, she was the Purchasing Manager, who was in

charge of the entire Purchasing Department.

The removal of waste chloronol was handled by the Scrap and

Salvage Department. Each plant in No. Adams had their own Scrap

and Salvage Department. There were 4 Sprague plants in No. Adams

located on Brown St., Marshall St., Beaver St., and Union St.

Brown St. was the only plant, which used chloronol. Beaver St.

and Union St. manufactured non—chloronol capacitors, marshal 1 St.

was the largest plant and contained corporate offices.

Page II Marie Dargie Report - 5/15/92


Chloronol arrived at the Marshall St. plant in RR cars from

Monsanto, where it was placed into storage tanks. It was then

pumped into a truck, which transported it to the Brown St. plant,

where it was used.

She has never heard of Fletcher Paint. The supervisor of

accounts payable in 195O's and 196O's was Ted Candiloro, who is

still employed by Sprague Electric.

Mrs. Dargie arranged for the disposal of waste chloronol in

the 197O's and said it was transported to New York, for disposal.

In approximately 1987, Sprague Commonwealth purchased the

division, which manufactures non-chloronol capacitors, from

Sprague Electric. They are two different companies.

IMLEGED WORK PRODUCT PREPAREDICIPOT OF LITIGATION

1ENT CONFIDENTIAL"DP/Si 34 73

Details o-f a conference with Emile Jobin— 5/12/92

located on

At approximately 6:OO P.M., I met Mr. Jobin at his home

His telephone number is |

and his SS # is

.oyed by Sprague Electric, from 195O until he



Mr. Jobin worked in the Maintenance Department at the

Marshall St., Brown St., and Beaver St. plants as a millwright.

He said barrels o-f waste oil were stored on the ground outside o-f

the Brown St., plant. The waste oil was handled by the Salvage

Department at Brown St., which was a separate department -from

Maintenance, until the two departments were merged in the mid—

1950's. He had no contact with waste chloronol.

Lou Damiano, John Sargent, John Rosse, and Andy Giargenti

worked in the Maintenance Department. I have determined that Mr.

Sargent and Mr. Giargenti are deceased.

313^74

mmixucu»»unrv rnuuuuIN ANTICIPATION OF LITIGATEENFORCEMENT CONFIDENTIAL1Details of a conference with John Rosse - 5/16/92

At approximately 11:OO A.M., I met with Mr. Rosse at his

home, . His telephone

number is^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H his D.O.B. is^ ^ ^ | nis ss * is

He was employed by Sprague, from 1941 until he



He worked in the Maintenance Department as a plumber, at

Beaver St. for 1 year, after which he was transferred to Brown

St. , where he remained, until he retired.

Spills of chloronol onto the floor of the impregnation

department would flow into floor drains, which emptied into the

Hoosuc River.

Waste chloronol was put into barrels, which were removed by

forklift from the impregnation department, and stored in the rear

yard of the plant. John Sargent and Bill Cooper operated the

forklift. I have determined that these men are deceased.

Brown St. had a security guard, who operated an electronic

gate, through which trucks would enter and exit the plant. The

guards had a security log book, into which they would write the

names of the trucks, which entered the facility. Brownie Soja and

Bob Hayes worked as security guards. Mr. Hayes is currently

employed by Sprague Commonwealth.

In order to remove material from the Brown St. plant, one

would have to obtain permission from the corporate offices,

located at Marshall St..

913475

Page II John Rosse Report -5/16/92


He has never heard of Fletcher Paint.

Mr. Rosse said that a large number o-f barrels of waste

chloronol were buried in a dump behind the rear fence of the

Brown St. plant and also barrels were disposed of at the No.

Adams town dump.

jfe;-: )

4 78

Details of a conference with George Roy - 5/15/92

At approximately 4:OO P.M., I met with George Roy. He

is ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 his D.O.B. is ^ ^ H and his SS # is

He was employed by Sprague Electric, -from 1936 until he



He was the supervisor o-f warehousing, which handled all

incoming materials to the plants. Chloronol originally came in 55

gallon barrels and Sprague went to bulk purchasing in the late

195O's. The chloronol always came from Monsanto.

At Brown St., barrels of waste chloronol were removed from

the impregnation department, by the Scrap and Salvage department,

and stored in the yard outside of the building, maybe in a wooden

structure.

Lawrence Moreau was in charge of the Purchasing Department

at Brown St. in the 195O's and 196O's and would have handled the

sale of waste pyranol.

He said that Charles Mil son and Walt Maynard, worked in

Scrap and Salvage. I have determined that Mr. Wilson is deceased.

Mr. Roy said that all of Sprague Electric's records,

including records from the Purchasing Department, are stored in

the basement of Building 15 at Marshall St.

*, p?~a " • ""H ;;

-<~3,

Details o-f a conference with James Smith -5/8/92

At approximately 1:OO P.M., I met Mr. Smith at his home

located at ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ H His telephone number is^H

He was employed by Sprague Electric, -from 1953

until he retired in 198O. This report was prepared by the Blake


Mr. Smith worked at the Sprague -facilities in Kingston, NY

from 1953 until 1957, and in Nashua and Concord, NH, from 1959

until 198O, as an engineer. He was never employed in the facility

in No. Adams, MA and had no contact with PCB's.

He said that Sprague Electric was now owned by a company

from Pennsylvania, named Loral. Besides the plants in Nashua and

Concord, NH, Sprague has a plant in Saco, ME.

He mentioned the name of Peter Wol, as having worked at the

No. Adams plant.

DRAFT

313478

Details o-f a conference with Peter Wol - 5/9/92

At approximately 11:OO A.M., I met Mr. Wol at his home

located on ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 1 His telephone number is

I He was employed by Sprague Electric, -from 1955

until he retired in 1987. This report was prepared by the Blake


He worked in No. Adams, MA from 1955 until 1969 and from

198O until 1987. From 1969 until 1972, he worked at the Visalia,

CA plant and from 1972 until 1975, he was at the Nashua, NH

facility. Mr. Wol is an engineer, who worked in the field of

miniature circuits, and had no contact with PCB's.

He said that aroclor oil was called cnloronol at Sprague

Electric and was used at the Brown St. plant, in No. Adams, MA

Joe Bianchi worked at the Brown St. plant.

"iiifel,"

DRAFT

313479

[REDACTED] INTERVIEW REPORT NO. 4 - POTENTIALLY ...

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