Waste Site Cleanup & Reuse in New England
Former Navy Yard Mill Site
Public Meeting
The next public meeting regarding the Navy Yard Mills Site in Dracut will be on Sunday, Oct. 28. There will be representatives from the EPA, MassDEP, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry (ATSDR) and the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at the meeting to give a brief presentation and answer any questions.
| When: | Sunday, October 28, 2012 |
| Time: | Two sessions from 10:30-12:30 and 1:30-3:30 (the session will be the same and we welcome community members to come at their convenience.) |
| Where: | 488 Pleasant Street Dracut, MA (Fire Dept conference room) |
Results of indoor air testing conducted in the Winter/Spring of 2012 led EPA, in consultation with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to determine that levels of chemicals in certain buildings of the former Navy Yard Mills facility are above EPA's guidance levels. "Vapor intrusion" – the ability of chemicals in the ground to vaporize in air and then be breathed by people – is the main concern that EPA is working to address at the site. The contaminants are Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE). EPA, ATSDR, the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) and Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) are working together to address the exposure at the site and taking steps to eliminate or reduce continued exposure to TCE and PCE from vapor intrusion. The new levels of protective exposure, the reference concentrations, have caused EPA to take action at this site to ensure that the public is no longer exposed to levels of TCE and PCE in the indoor air above the reference concentrations. EPA and the property owner will be taking immediate steps to reduce exposure at the site, including:
- Installing air purifying units in the space of Future Stars, Nexdine and the A Lowell Self Storage office;
- Ensuring current systems are working properly;
- Conducting air sampling at the time of Air Purifying Unit installation and weekly thereafter until permanent measures have been implemented.
EPA will conduct further site characterization and analysis to determine appropriate permanent measure for the site. EPA anticipates that implementation of the more permanent measure will take 3 to 6 months.
Location: 76 – 100 Pleasant Street, Dracut, MA
Start date: 11/28/2011
End date: Ongoing
Contact: Kelsey O'Neil (oneil.kelsey@epa.gov), US EPA, 617-918-1799