Lower Neponset River Superfund Site Public Meeting scheduled for November 12, 2024

Lower Neponset River Superfund Site Public Meeting scheduled for November 12, 2024

October 30, 2024

BOSTON (Oct. 30, 2024) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold a public meeting on November 12, 2024 to update the community on current status of the Lower Neponset River Superfund Site (the Site) and related short-term cleanup actions. EPA will discuss work that occurred in 2024, plans for 2025, and the Community Advisory Group (CAG) established for the Site, which serves as an important tool for community involvement.

EPA will also update the community on the status of an Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis (EE/CA) for the Site. An EE/CA is a document prepared by EPA that evaluates cleanup alternatives and proposes a cleanup plan. Once complete, the EE/CA will be shared with the public and EPA will seek input from the community.

The community is invited to attend in person:

When:
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 from 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Where:
Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library
1350 Blue Hill Avenue
Mattapan, MA 02126

Join by phone or online via Zoom:

Call: (646) 828 - 7666 then dial 160 097 4477

Zoom: visit www.epa.gov/neponsetriver.
Online Meeting ID: 160 097 4477 Passcode: 44039854

Background

The Lower Neponset River Superfund Site (the Site) consists of a 3.7-mile section of the Neponset River between its confluence with Mother Brook (in Hyde Park, Massachusetts) and the Walter Baker Chocolate Dam (in Dorchester/Milton, MA). The Lower Neponset River channel ranges from approximately 40 feet to 300 feet wide and comprises an estimated 40 acres within or bordering the City of Boston (Hyde Park, Mattapan and Dorchester sections) and the Town of Milton, MA. The Site is bordered by residential, commercial, industrial, and public parcels of land, including the Neponset River Greenway.

On March 16, 2022, EPA listed the Site on the National Priorities List. EPA began the Remedial Investigation in 2023 and completed the investigation throughout the first upstream mile of the Superfund Site. This data is being used to develop the EE/CA to evaluate potential alternatives to address contaminated sediment and riverbank soils within first mile of the Site. The EE/CA is planned to be released for public comment this winter. Finally, EPA is continuing the Remedial Investigation sampling throughout the remaining 2.7 miles of the Site (from the T&H Dam downstream to the Walter Baker Chocolate Dam) to aid in the development of the overall Site Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study.

Recently Completed Work Along the River

The Lewis Chemical Site is downstream of the Mother Brook and Neponset River confluence. It is located on Fairmount Court in Hyde Park, next to the Fairmount Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority train station. From 1963 to 1983, the former Lewis Chemical industrial facility collected, transported, stored, and processed hazardous wastes containing PCBs and other hazardous substances. In October of 2022, EPA evaluated sampling data to determine if the PCBs and other collocated contamination within the Site's soil posed a risk to human health and the environment. Starting in 2023, EPA excavated soils contaminated with PCBs, volatile organic compounds, asbestos, and lead from the Lewis Chemical Site. EPA shipped 5,703 tons of contaminated soils from the Site to EPA-approved hazardous waste disposal facilities. The excavated areas were backfilled with clean soil and revegetated with grass seed. EPA completed the removal action in October 2024.

Work has begun at the Riverside Square PCB Site

The Riverside Square PCB Site is located along the northern bank of the Lower Neponset River within the Riverside Square area in Hyde Park. From the 1930s through the 1970s, several industries using PCBs operated in the Neponset River Basin, one of the most industrialized basins in the United States. In 1962 and 1964, to control flooding, the river was dredged by the Metropolitan District Commission, now a part of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. Dredging is the process of cleaning out the bed of the river by scooping out sediment (mud) and debris with a machine called a dredge. The dredged materials, or "spoils," were placed in several locations along the banks of the river, essentially creating new land. The Riverside Square PCB Site is one of those riverbank locations. During 2023, EPA collected about 500 soil samples from the Site. EPA decided to remove contaminated soil in this area and started the removal action in October 2024.

EPA's clean-up work at the Lewis Chemical Site and the Riverside Square PCB Site are discrete, short-term removal actions that will contribute to EPA's long-term effort to investigate and clean-up contamination at the Lower Neponset River Superfund Site.

Information about the Site and contact information if you have any questions can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/neponsetriver.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.