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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-03-18 Hazardous Waste Committee Minutes" ,o - j EoLrY, Je V ` c x--? 0/i o ~ l cr is e ` j t naz4v- M/ L.._... Reading's Hazardous Waste Advisory Committee t R , a Minutes of Meeting March 18, 1992 Members Present Present from the Committee were John Sullivan, Chair; Phil Doherty, Foy Johnson, Gina Snyder and Ruth Cogan. Former member Bill Murphy was also in attendance. A sign in sheet for all present is attached. Business The meeting was called to order at 7:35 P.M. by Chair, John Sullivan. John Sullivan welcomed all those present and introduced new member Foy Johnson. Foy gave a brief sketch of his background which includes storage and transportation of hazardous materials. All welcomed Foy to the committee. Next order of business was to approve the minutes of the December 2, 1991 meeting. Gina Snyder made a motion to approve the minutes, seconded by Foy Johnson, Approved unanimously. DEP Presentation The main agenda item was introduced by Chair John Sullivan: a presentation by Any Ferguson, State of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, concerning the status of the DEP actions to protect the Reading Wellfield from contamination emanating from the north side of the Ipswich River. Amy Ferguson is an Environmental Analyst with the Site Management Branch of DEP. The Site Management Branch performs assessment and clean-up of hazardous waste sites. History Ms. Ferguson first provided the history of the pollution problems from the Route 93-Concord Street area of North Reading/Wilmington. In December of 1988 one well, known as well 82-20, in Reading's 100 Acre Wellfield, located south of Concord Street, South of the Ipswich River, was found to be contaminated by industrial solvents. The primary contaminant was and is Tetrachloroethene or PCE, a chemical used as a degreasor and in drycleaning. Prior work in the vicinity had started about 1986 when the North Reading well known as the Stickney Well, located to the north of Concord St., was found to be contaminated. The process of investigating the problem included a study by DEP of the Zones of contribution to the contaminated well. An area called Zone II was mapped to show a conservative (the largest possible area) estimate of the area that would contribute water to the well in a case where there were 180 consecutive days with no recharge to the aquifer. Not all of the information normally required of a Zone II study was available so this area is somewhat conceptual but as shown on Ms. Ferguson's map it extends to route 93 and in some areas beyond, and includes the area of the Fordham Road GE facility. To the north it extends a ways beyond Concord Street (and includes the industries along Concord Street) and also extends a little bit south of the Reading Wellfield. Companies in the Zone II area were identified, spill reports, fire department files, lists of generators of hazardous wastes and site visits were reviewed to determine who may have contributed to the contamination. Contamination Letters were sent to the companies identified (called Notification of Responsibility), indicating that they were required to investigate possible contamination, The greatest contamination (of PCE) was found at Sterling Company, a supplier of drycleaning chemicals (70 Concord St.) which closed after a spill that occurred in 1989. The previous tenant was Craig Supply which also supplied PCE. The Dexter Corporation was the tenant prior to Craig Supply. The downgradient property is also vacant and was CHF Products. Assessment is needed there as well. In response to questions, Ms. Ferguson indicated that GE also has contamination from PCE but also other chemicals and breakdown products of those chemicals. She indicated that is would be hard to divide the impacts on the groundwater plume between the-GE and the 70 Concord St. site. Other problem areas include MSM Industries where 1,1,1- Trichloroethane and Trichloroethene were found and a pump-and-treat system installed; GE with pump-and-treat and a product. recovery system; Roadway Express with 1,4-Dichlorobenzene and an ongoing investigation; Lily Trucking which fixed leaking floor drains and did limited excavation; Sanborn Trucking also did limited excavation; and St. Johnsbury which is still investigating. Status Those responsible for the contamination and/or the past/present occupants and owners, called Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), did some investigation; and the state spent $90,000 on assessment. Now that it is time to perform cleanup, the PRP's have refused to do so. Therefore, the state is currently funding the work ($150,000 is currently signed off for more investigation). In addition, to recover state costs and to try to force the PRPts to take on the responsibility, the state's only recourse is to refer the case to the Attorney General's office, which they have done. Ms. Ferguson could not give details of whether the AG has decided to take the case or not. The DEP is now setting up to perform some cleanup under the state program. The state is utilizing the contractor ABB to design a pumping and treatment system to collect and remove contamination from the groundwater. There is contamination in both the overburden and the bedrock. It is too deep to bedrock to excavate all contamination and a soil vapor extraction system may be necessary. The potential steps to building a cleanup system will probably take at least a year and cost over a million dollars. The steps include; Develop and Evaluate Alternatives Recommend and Approve an Alternative Design the system and approve the design Put the proposal out to bid and Approve a bid. Currently the contamination levels in Reading well 82-20 are at 8 ppb of PCE (down from a high of about 100 ppb) « Ms. Ferguson indicated that the drinking water standard for PCE is 5ppb (it is a possible or probable carcinogen). Ms. Ferguson indicated that this is a very important site to the Department as further shown by the assignment of nearly all of Ms. Ferguson's time to it. The money for the short-term remedy will be available. General Discussion Some discussion revolved around the continuing problem that the industrialization of Concord Street poses. There will always be a threat to Reading's water supply by the location of industry over the aquifer. However, if a sewer were to be installed along the industrial way, it would go a long way toward mitigating the problem, General Electric has an onste wastewater treatment system that has been cited for numerous violations of discharge limitations. An outstanding order requiring upgrades will result in spending an estimated $1.5 million, Many feel it would be better spent hooking all of that area into the sewer. Mr. McIntyre from the DPW was in attendance and indicated that negotiations have been ongoing with the MWRA over this possibility. Reading well 82-20 and a couple of upgradient monitoring wells continue to be sampled. Tests show that the water entering the Reading Water system has no detectable contamination. The meeting adjourned at approximately 9 P.M. Submitted by Regina slider