Superfund Sites in Reuse in Massachusetts
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Atlas Tack Corp.
The Atlas Tack Corporation Superfund site in Fairhaven, Massachusetts is about 48 acres and includes upland areas, wetlands and saltwater marsh. The former facility made a variety of metal products, including tacks and steel nails, from 1901 to 1985. Operations released waste containing acids, metals, and solvents into drains and an on-site, unlined lagoon located near a marsh area. Waste disposal practices resulted in contamination of soil, surface water, sediment and groundwater. In 1990, EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL). In 2005, EPA began cleanup at the site. The cleanup activities included demolition of most of the remaining on-site structures, removal of contaminated soil, groundwater monitoring, and site restoration. EPA completed these activities in 2007, and began monitoring activities in 2008. The on-site wetland areas are expected to be fully restored to their pre-industrial conditions. Potential development at the site could include commercial and industrial reuse of the upland areas. EPA is working with the current owners of properties at the site to implement institutional controls that will ensure all future reuse of the site will be consistent with the selected site cleanup and protective of human health and the environment.
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Cannon Engineering Corp. (CEC)
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Fort Devens-Sudbury Training Annex
The Fort Devens Sudbury Training Annex Superfund site, a former U.S. Army military installation, covers approximately four square miles and includes portions of the towns of Maynard, Stow, Hudson, and Sudbury, Massachusetts. Established in 1942, the site served as an ammunition depot, an ordnance test station, a troop training and research area, and a laboratory disposal area. EPA identified contamination resulting from use of pesticides and other chemicals on portions of the site and added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1990. The U.S. Army worked with EPA to remove contaminated soil, cover an on-site landfill with a cap, remove underground storage tanks, and monitor ground water. Currently, several entities own portions of the site. In 2000, the Army transferred 2,230 acres of the site to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). USFWS established the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge on the transferred land. In 2005, USFWS completed construction of walking trails within the refuge. In 2008, USFWS completed restoration of Russell Bridge. In 2010, a visitor center and other park amenities opened at the refuge. USFWS used green building techniques when constructing the visitor center, which includes a geothermal heating system and solar panels. The visitor center welcomes visitors Thursday through Sunday. The refuge provides recreational opportunities including hiking, canoeing, guided tours of the military bunkers on site, hunting and fishing. USFWS’s future plans for the refuge include educational demonstration areas, restoration of on-site bunkers, an urban education area and a rail-to- trail project at the abandoned railroad on the south side of the refuge. In 2002, the Army transferred four acres to the US Air Force (USAF). USAF uses the area for operation of a radar and weather station. In 2003, the Army transferred approximately 72 acres of the site to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA uses the land for its operations and training missions. FEMA has cleared six acres for use as a temporary antenna field.
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GE - Housatonic River
The GE-Pittsfield/Housatonic River (GE-Housatonic River) site includes a 254-acre former manufacturing facility, filled river oxbows, neighboring commercial properties, Allendale School, Silver Lake and other areas. The site contains contamination released from the General Electric Company (GE) facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The site also includes the Housatonic River and floodplains from Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Long Island Sound. The portion of the river beginning two miles south of the GE facility is referred to as Rest of River. A cleanup decision on Rest of River is currently pending. A consent decree entered in federal court in 2000 specified the cleanup of all other areas of the site. Since 2000, extensive cleanup of the site has occurred. Eighteen of 20 cleanup actions outside the river are complete. Cleanup of the Unkamet Brook Area (the 19th cleanup action) is currently underway. The remaining cleanup action outside the river is expected to be completed within the next three years. Two miles of the Housatonic River have also been cleaned up. As part of ongoing cleanup activities, the community prioritized the reuse of the former GE facility, located in the heart of downtown Pittsfield. Funded by a Superfund Redevelopment pilot grant, the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority (PEDA) developed a reuse plan. The reuse plan outlined opportunities for sports fields and an office park. In 2004, GE built a 3-acre recreational facility on site for the community. The facility includes a baseball diamond, soccer field, jogging track, equipment storage, fencing and lighting. Between 2005 and 2012, PEDA received ownership of 50 acres of the site for the development of the William Stanley Business Park. The William Stanley Business Park provides commercial and industrial space for area businesses. The Park’s first tenant, a financial services company, built a 170,000 square-foot building, which officially opened in June 2012. Western Massachusetts Electric Company installed an 8-acre solar power facility in 2010, using 2 acres of the site and 6 acres from an adjacent property. In 2014, PEDA received a $9 million grant from the State to design and build the Berkshire Innovation Center. The facility support shared research, early-stage production and commercialization, and work force training for life science companies and related businesses. There is also reuse of the GE-owned portion of the 254-acre facility, where two large employers continue to operate. Several land uses have continued on the non-GE owned portion of the site (excluding the Rest of River), including an elementary school, about 86 residential properties, about 35 commercial properties and a city park.
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Groveland Wells
The 850-acre Groveland Wells Superfund site is located in Groveland, Essex County, Massachusetts. Groveland Resources Corporation (GRC) and Valley Manufactured Products Company, Inc. (Valley) produced metals and plastic parts on the property until 2001. GRC and Valley released cutting oils and chlorinated solvents on the site. Additional waste leaked from storage tanks and disposal systems at the Valley facility. Site releases contaminated the Town of Groveland’s public water supply. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1982. In late 1987 and early 1988, EPA used soil vapor extraction to remove contaminants from site soils. GRC and Valley installed a groundwater extraction and treatment system in 1988. EPA installed an additional extraction and treatment system in 2000. In 2006, EPA eliminated the source wastes by removing storage tanks and leakage field soils from the site. A sand and gravel operation and the Groveland Department of Public Works continue to operate on site. A 3.5 megawatt solar panel installation on the site powers more than 500 homes. Residential, commercial and industrial land uses continue at the site.
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Hatheway & Patterson
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Industri-Plex
For more information:
- Reuse and the Benefit to Community: Industri-Plex Case Study (2014) (PDF) (21 pp, 1.6 MB, About PDF)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Iron Horse Park
For more information:
- Redevelopment of the Shaffer Landfill portion of the Iron Horse Park Superfund Site (PDF) (1 pg, 364 K, About PDF)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Materials Technology Laboratory (USARMY)
The Materials Technology Laboratory (USARMY) Superfund site, better known as the “Arsenal”, is located in Watertown, Massachusetts. In 1816, the U.S. Army began their operations at the site and employed 10,000 people by the end of World War II. The Army used the site for a variety of military- and war-related activities, including weapons and ammunition manufacturing and storage, as well as nuclear reactor and molecular and atomic structure research activities in the 1960s. In 1987, the Army discovered contamination during a site inspection. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List in 1994. Cleanup activities removed contamination and demolished an on-site nuclear reactor. From 1996 to 2005, the Watertown Arsenal Development Corporation (WADC), helped to facilitate redevelopment of 30 acres of the site. Harvard University purchased the area and constructed a mixed use complex called Arsenal on the Charles, which incorporates the style and architecture of the original brick buildings in the area. The complex includes apartments, retail stores, restaurants, a child care facility, a fitness center, corporate offices and various other businesses. The Arsenal Center for the Arts, also located within the complex, serves as an important cultural asset to the community with a theater, gallery space, artists’ studios, and other resources and services. The Commander’s Mansion, a historic landmark, occupies a 7.2 acre area of the site and provides a space for meetings and formal functions. The popular Squibnocket Park is located on an 11-acre parcel along the Charles River and provides biking and walking trails, as well as access to the Watertown Yacht Club, a privately-owned marina that has been operating since 1940. The Army restored wetlands along the Charles River and EPA deleted the site from the NPL in 2006.
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New Bedford
The New Bedford Harbor Superfund site includes 18,000 acres in New Bedford, Massachusetts. At least two companies produced electric devices on site from 1940 to the late 1970s. Operations discharged industrial wastes into the harbor, which contaminated the estuary from the upper Acushnet River into Buzzards Bay. In 1983, EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL). Ongoing cleanup activities include removing and capping contaminated sediments. Cleanup plans also include removal of contaminated sediment and wetland restoration at shoreline properties. Dredging has taken place at the site for over 10 years. The site received $30 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to support cleanup activities. EPA expects the cleanup will be substantially completed within five to seven years. After site cleanup, New Bedford will reuse EPA’s shoreline dewatering facility as an intermodal transportation facility. The facility, located on the City’s working waterfront, will include 350 feet of berthing space for freighters or commercial fishing vessels, a 55,000 square-foot warehouse, and a rail spur connecting to the City’s rail yard. In 2009, cleanup activities led to the discovery of a shipwrecked vessel in the harbor. Archeological testing dated the vessel between the late 1700s and early 1800s. In 2011, EPA completed demolition of the 11-acre Aerovox mill, located along the Acushnet River. The area will provide the City with space for future redevelopment. Local residents use the harbor for recreational activities such as rowing. Additionally, the site cleanup plan includes a component to allow additional dredging efforts by local and state stakeholders. Dredging of the harbor, which enhances the remedy at the site by removing sediment not addressed under the Superfund cleanup, has resulted in improvements to the harbor as a commercial port, as well as the recent construction of the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal, a 28-acre marine terminal. Redevelopment continues to take place along the river, including repurposing of abandoned mills for residential apartments and new commercial redevelopment. Reuse plans along the river include a Riverwalk along both sides of the Upper Harbor and significant habitat restoration, which aim to reconnect the community to the river. EPA’s cleanup will address site contamination along the shoreline prior to construction of the Riverwalk. Completion of the cleanup will allow for further redevelopment and repurposing of buildings along the shoreline.
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Norwood PCBs
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Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump
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Otis Air National Guard Base/Camp Edwards
The 22,000-acre Otis Air National Guard Base/Camp Edwards Superfund site is located on western Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. Also known as the Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) (formerly known as Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) until July 13, 2013), the site lies about 60 miles south of Boston and immediately southeast of the Cape Cod Canal. Since its establishment in 1935, the MMR’s primary mission has been to provide training and housing to U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army units. Historical chemical and fuel spills; fire training activities; and sewage treatment plant, landfill and drainage structure operations contaminated site soil and ground water. Investigations in 1983 and 1984 found volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in on-site and nearby monitoring wells as well as in several hundred private wells. The main contaminants of concern include VOCs and heavy metals. EPA listed the site on the National Priorities List (NPL) in November 1989 and documented the site cleanup plan in over 15 Record of Decision (ROD) documents. Cleanup activities include the installation of water supply lines to affected residents, installation of municipal water supply well treatment systems, treatment of 100,000 tons of soil, and construction and operation of many on-site and off-site ground water treatment plants. The treatment plants include extraction and reinjection wells and treat about 10.6 million gallons of contaminated ground water per day. EPA has completed cleanups at 25 separate source areas and issued a preliminary close-out report in December 2009. This report marked the completion of all remedy construction activities at the site. The Barnstable County Correctional Facility, a jail with a capacity for about 580 inmates, began operating on site in 2004. The Air Force installed a total of three 1.5 megawatt wind turbines – one in 2009 and two more in 2011 – to offset electrical costs for powering numerous ground water cleanup systems at the MMR. The Air Force estimates that the wind energy saves about $1.5 million a year in electrical costs. EPA’s cleanup plans allowed continued site operations throughout the cleanup process. Today, five major organizations continue to use the MMR: 1) The Massachusetts Air National Guard (ANG) operates Camp Edwards 2) The ANG/Massachusetts ANG operates Otis ANG Base 3) The U.S. Air Force operates Cape Cod Air Force Station 4) The U.S. Coast Guard operates Air Station Cape Cod 5) The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs operates the Massachusetts National Cemetery.
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Re-Solve, Inc.
The 6-acre Re-Solve, Inc., Superfund site is a former waste chemical reclamation facility in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Between 1956 and 1980, site operators disposed of residues from operations, liquid sludge waste, impure solvents and burned tires in on-site unlined lagoons. Site operators also spread oil waste over the site to control dust. In 1980, the state and Re-Solve agreed that Re-Solve would surrender its license to accept waste on the condition that Re-Solve removed all hazardous waste from the site. In 1981, legal action resulted in the removal of all drums, debris and buildings at the site, but the contents of the lagoons remained. EPA placed the site on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. EPA and the site’s potentially responsible parties (PRPs) constructed a groundwater pump, containment and treatment system at the site. The system has operated continuously since 1998. As part of the cleanup activities, EPA and the PRPs cleaned up and restored 1 acre of wetlands at the site. The PRPs also worked closely with EPA and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to convert 4 acres of the site into a native meadow for ecological reuse. The PRPs placed bird boxes, brush piles and sand piles for turtles to enhance the meadow habitat. A fishing derby takes place annually at Cornell Pond on site to engage the local community in fish monitoring activities. Additionally, EPA and the PRPs evaluated potential sustainable enhancements to the groundwater treatment system that would achieve remedy standards and reduce energy, product consumption & off-site disposal costs. In 2011, EPA approved a full-scale pilot project that includes Anaerobic Bioreactor (ABR) Beds and a solar facility. The groundwater treatment system has been operating with the enhancements for over 2 years and demonstrates compliance with remedy standards while reducing operational costs.
For more information:
- Redevelopment of the Re-Solve, Inc. Superfund Site (PDF)(1 pg, 1.6 MB, About PDF)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
South Weymouth Naval Air Station
The South Weymouth Naval Air Station consists of 1,442 acres in the towns of Weymouth, Abington and Rockland, Massachusetts. Historically, military operations at the site included aviation training, aircraft maintenance and refueling, personnel training, housing and administrative support services. Waste disposal activities also took place at the site and included three landfills, a tile leachfield used for the disposal of battery acid and burn pits for fire training. After sampling confirmed on-site contamination in 1991, EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1994. The base closed under the Base Realignment and Closure Act (BRAC) and cleanup began in 1997. The local reuse authority, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Federal Aviation Administration have received over 600 acres of the site. Redevelopment negotiations between the Navy and private developers took place from 1997 until 2011, when a private developer purchased the remaining site acreage. The $25 million transaction provides the developer, LNR Property Corp., with land to complete redevelopment work on a new mixed use community at the site called SouthField. Following its completion, SouthField will include 2,800 homes, 2 million square feet of stores and offices, a golf course, athletic fields and other facilities.
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Sullivan's Ledge
For more information:
- Utility-Scale Solar Energy Development: The Sullivan's Ledge Superfund Site in New Bedford, Massachusetts (PDF)(14 pp, 3.5 MB, About PDF)
- Superfund Site Profile Page
Wells G&H
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