The 53 acres of
property located at 51 Eames was largely tranquil forest though the 1940s,
prior to falling prey to development in the early 1950s with the construction
of a manufacturing facility on the site. The opening of this manufacturing
plant heralded an environmentally hazardous succession of chemical
manufacturing operations between 1953 and 1986, the last of which was the Olin
Chemical manufacturing company starting in 1980. It was Olin that produced and
disposed of a number of liquid wastes in unlined pits known as “lagoons” over
the site’s final six years of operation between the years of 1980 and 1986,
thus leading to the logically named “Olin Superfund Site.” Unfortunately, the 1986 closing of the
manufacturing site did little to alleviate the pollution. Following the lagoons
seeping into the nearby groundwater, it was determined necessary to close five
municipal water supply wells that served 7000 people within the town of Wilmington.
Following this crisis, 51 Eames St became a “superfund site” on April 16, 2006.
Superfund is a term that implicates the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), which necessitates an extensive clean
up to be conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as an
exhaustive review by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in order to
determine the prudent course of action moving forward with regard to the
business interests of the site. This is in addition to the numerous
environmental investigations and response activities that had been conducted
prior to this development, which resulted in the excavation and off-site
deportation of a relatively large quantity of contaminated soil. The completion
of the aforementioned CERCLA mandated environmental review to be conducted by
the STB in conjunction with the clean up by the EPA will represent the trigger
that will effectively authorize New England Transrail (NET) to once and for all
begin receiving and processing raw commodities such as salt, sand, gravel,
soil, lumber, plastics, steel, paper, woodchips, clay, and brick, as well as
some other types of hazardous materials for transfer from this site. It
should come as no surprise that NET is petitioning the STB to recant its 2012
decision to defer this review, but what is truly complicating matters is that
the EPA endorsed this idea in November of 2015.
The
EPA cited reasons such as the intention of NET to exclusively process raw
commodities, as opposed to solid waste, the economic benefit of returning
contaminated land to use, and the benefit of free waste removal as reasons why
they are in favor of the new proposal; however regardless of the veracity of
these rationales, the EPA assumed this stance before it even completed its
investigation of the site, or established a definitive clean up plan, as
mandated by regulation. Since the EPA has yet to even render a record of
decision, it is only logical for the STB to uphold its decision to defer its
environmental review, which would at the very least buy the town more time.
However on June 24, 2016, NET filed a petition for exemption with the STB,
which could render all of this a moot. Regardless, it is for all of the reasons
outlined that the town of Wilmington is adamant that the eventual sale of the
Olin property to NET never should have been permitted in the first place. In
addition to the regulatory stipulations and environmental concerns cited, there
are also a plethora of practical concerns on the part of the town of Wilmington
that will adversely impact that quality of lives for local residents.
Those
familiar with the town of Wilmington know that the portion of the community in
the vicinity of Eames Street is a suburban, residential district, with relatively
narrow, contorting thoroughfares, thus not only will traffic-concerns and noise
pollution be immense, but the large volume of trucks navigating these winding
roads will pose quite the danger indeed. The latest proposal from NET entails
20-25 rail cars daily six days per week, each car containing 3.5 truckloads of
material. Ninety trucks per day will be leaving twice daily to haul away
materials, totaling 180 daily truck trips beginning about 5:30 am and
continuing until 4pm. In addition to the inordinately large volume of truck
traffic on this residential roadway on nearly a daily basis and the dangerous
chemical contamination that has already punished the land, there are still more
environmental hazards in play. The integrity of the slurry wall that was
constructed by Olin in the year 2000 in order to isolate the most heavily
contaminated land may be compromised by daily vibration from the heavy volume
of railcar traffic, which is an issue that may very well be exacerbated by the
sheer weight of these trains and trucks loosening compacted soil and sediment,
thus expediting the spread of contaminated water. This is extremely
disconcerting because Wilmington is already plagued by an above average cancer
rate among children, thus any further contamination threatens to pose an even
greater health risk for local families, which is why swift action is needed.
Wilmington has
quickly evolved into one of the most desirable places to live in Massachusetts
given its convenient location and quality school system, and now its incumbent
upon its residents to fight to maintain this high quality of life. In order to
do so it is imperative for the town’s population to be educated on this matter
and thus empowered to take collective action because as local representative
Jim Miceli stated, “this transrail is going to ruin this town, mark my words”.
Miceli advises that concerned residents should demand answers from Remedial
Project Manager (RPM) Jim
DiLorenzo, (dilorenzo.jim@epa.gov,
(617) 918-1247) at the EPA to the burning question of why he has been
permitting the sale of the Olin superfund site to the New England transrail
company to proceed despite a myriad of unaddressed issues. Not the least of
which is a toxic elixir of environmental, logistical and health concerns being
forced down the throats of Wilmington residents; otherwise quality of life as
we know it maybe over. I urge my fellow residents to join me in erring our
concerns-
No comments:
Post a Comment