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A preliminary study of how Hartford could repurpose its old waste-to-energy plant along the Connecticut River says it could cost as little as $27.87 million – or as much as $450 million, depending on how and when it’s done, and what the goal is.

If city officials want to limit future development to industrial uses, and keep the 1920s-vintage part of the old power plant standing, that could only run them $37.56 million if they started work on site remediation in 2036, or $27.87 million if work started next year. That option would be the cheapest to remediate.

If city leaders followed through with their dream of a mixed-use, residential-heavy project on the site, that could cost $333.87 million if they started next year, or up to $450 million if they waited until 2036 for one reason or another – for example, if funding proves hard to come by in the event of a tariff-driven recession.

Part of the huge price tag: $178.54 million to remove an Eversource electrical substation on the site, and $113.63 million in site remediation costs, which would include the need to import enough soil to bury the current site and all its contaminants 13 feet underground.

Testing summarized in the report by engineering firm Weston & Sampson to the MIRA Dissolution Authority said site contamination ranged from asbestos, PCBs and lead paint in the old power plant buildings, to PCBs in the soil.