Region 1: EPA New England
Serving Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont & 10 Tribal Nations
Parker Street Waste Site
Progress at Parker Street
February 2011 video of EPA's cleanup work at the Parker Street Waste Site.
Transcripts:
Portuguese (PDF) (1 pg, 34K, about PDF)
Spanish (PDF) (1 pg, 33K, about PDF)
More information
Meeting Notes
- November 1, 2011 Community Leaders Meeting (PDF) (2 pp, 98K)
- August 25, 2011 Community Leaders Meeting (PDF) (4 pp, 74K)
- June 13, 2011 Community Leaders Meeting (PDF) (4 pp, 77K)
Next Public Meeting
The last community meeting was held on February 10, 2011. Check back here for future meetings.
Your Community Involvement Coordinators
EPA Community Involvement Coordinators
Kelsey O'Neil (oneil.kelsey@epa.gov)
617-918-1799
Toll Free 1-888-372-7341 ext.8-1799
Jim Murphy (murphy.jim@epa.gov)
617-918-1028
Toll Free 1-888-372-7341 ext.8-1028
Mailing List
To recieve e-mail updates about the Parker Street Waste Site Kelsey O'Neil (oneil.kelsey@epa.gov)
1/13/2012 Activity Update
*This update serves to provide New Bedford community members and interested parties with details about the work being performed by EPA and MassDEP.
- Work continues on properties at the Parker Street Waste Site. Work is anticipated to take place through this month until the end of the construction season, which is typically marked by the first deep freeze.
- During the week of December 5, 2011 excavation and backfilling operations were initiated on one additional property due to site-related contamination shown in sidewall samples taken from an adjacent property.
- Sidewall samples are taken on every property after excavation operations to determine whether potential contamination extends onto adjacent properties. If elevated levels of contamination are found and are believed to be site-related, as in this case, excavation and backfill operations are initiated on the adjacent property.
- Contaminated soil from the Shawmut Avenue staging area is being transported via truck to the Waste Management Middleboro Landfill in Middleboro, MA for disposal.
- Construction of an asphalt cap on a portion of a City-owned right-of-way along Parker Street was completed the week of December 14th.
- Soil excavation work, as well as restoration activities, was completed on the Westlawn Development Property on 11/9/2011.
- EPA will hold a public meeting sometime after the end of the construction season to update the community about the work that has been completed and to answer questions.
For more information or questions, please contact:
Jim Murphy, EPA
Community Involvement Coordinator
617-918-1028
Kelsey O'Neil, EPA
Community Involvement Coordinator
617-918-1799
Spring 2011 Community Update on the Parker Street Waste Site (PDF) (6 pp, 1MB, about PDF)
Primavera 2011 Actualización para la Comunidad sobre el Depósito de Desechos de Parker Street (PDF) (6 pp, 1MB, about PDF)
Primavera 2011 Boletim da Comunidade-Lixeira da Parker Street (PDF) (6 pp, 1.2MB, about PDF)
February 2010 Community Update on the Parker Street Waste Site (PDF) (6 pp, 824K, about PDF)
Guide to Parker Street Soil Sampling Results (PDF) (1 pg, 246K, about PDF)
EPA's Past Involvement at McCoy Field & Keith Middle School
EPA Approves New Bedford McCoy Field PCB Clean Up Plan
Updated August 30, 2005
EPA has approved a plan developed by the City of New Bedford to clean up, cap and dispose of PCB contamination at the McCoy Field site in New Bedford. EPA's approval follows several months of careful science-based analysis, as well as a thorough evaluation of comments submitted by the public between June 14 and July 29.
EPA's approval imposes a substantial number of conditions
designed to ensure that the site can be used as a school without
risk from PCBs.
EPA's evaluation of the City's plan focused on ensuring that an effective clean up remedy for the site is in place that will be protective of human health and the environment. EPA's review also concludes that the plan is consistent with the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and federal PCB regulations.
To address public concerns raised during public meetings and in comments submitted to the Agency, the approval also requires that the City of New Bedford develop and submit detailed plans for a long-term monitoring and maintenance program to evaluate the caps, groundwater and sediment, vent gas and indoor air.
Further, the City is required to develop plans to ensure continued public communication regarding its efforts, and to train on-site workers (such as landscapers) on the physical controls put in place to prevent disturbance of contaminated materials.
Background
New Bedford conducted a human health risk assessment of McCoy Field, based on the City's intention to build a new public school on the site. In performing the assessment, the City evaluated a number of activities that could result in exposure to students, visitors, school and municipal employees, and for construction and utility workers as part of the scenarios.
While EPA did not play a decision-making role in the selection of the site for the new Keith Middle School, EPA believes that the City's plan is acceptable and there will be no unreasonable risk to public health or the environment when the cleanup and subsequent monitoring and maintenance are conducted in accordance with the terms and conditions in the approval.
EPA's approval of the City of New Bedford's clean up plan is only for the McCoy Field site. The approval does not address contamination to adjacent wetlands, private properties, or at the existing high school. The City of New Bedford has submitted a plan to EPA describing the City's proposal to address PCB contamination of wetlands near McCoy Field which EPA is currently reviewing.
McCoy Field Clean Up Plan
The McCoy Field cleanup plan submitted by New Bedford, and approved by EPA, includes:
- Removal of PCBs of greater than or equal to 100 parts per million within the excavation areas;
- Installation of a surface cover outside the building footprint: for landscaped areas there will be a geotextile liner and a 3-foot clean soil cap; for parking areas the surface cover will be a geotextile liner and a 2-foot clean cap with an asphalt cover;
- Construction of the school building on pile caps/grade beams above ground surface;
- Installation of a passive vapor collection system and solid vapor barrier beneath the building footprint;
- Establishment of a long-term monitoring and maintenance plan for the surface covers and indoor and groundwater monitoring;
- Development of a communications plan as part of the long-term monitoring and maintenance implementation plan.
Useful Links
- Pollution Reports (POLREP)
- POLREP #1, Initial, 12/15/10 (PDF) (5 pp, 48K)
- POLREP #2, Progress, 2/17/11 (PDF) (6 pp, 247K)
- POLREP #3, Progress, 7/1/11 (PDF) (6 pp, 45K)
- POLREP #4, Progress, 9/9/11 (PDF) (5 pp, 255K)
- POLREP #5, Progress, 9/30/11 (PDF) (5 pp, 250K)
- POLREP #6, 11/30/11 (PDF) (6 pp, 259K)
- POLREP #7, Progress, 1/3/12 (PDF) (6 pp, 254K)
- Approval for Risk-Based PCB Cleanup and Disposal under 40 CFR §761.61(c), August 31, 2005 (PDF) (970 pp, 63.5MB)
- List of Documents in Administrative Record (Attachment 2) (PDF) (pp 9 - 10 of 970 pp, 63.5MB, about PDF)
- EPA Response to Comments (Attachment 3) (PDF) (pp 11 - 32 of 970 pp, 63.5MB, about PDF)
- Technical Support Document for McCoy Field PCB Cleanup and Disposal Approval (PDF) (pp 961 - 968 of 970 pp, 63.5MB, about PDF)
- Information on PCBs
- Administrative Record Document Links
- McCoy Field Proposed Keith Middle School Fact Sheet (PDF) (4 pp, 123K, about PDF)
- Presentation: EPA Proposes Approval of McCoy Field Cleanup Plan (111K, Powerpoint Presentation)