Waste Site Cleanup & Reuse in New England
Wells G & H Backgrounder
Superfund Sets Cleanup In Motion
In April 1980 – eight months before Superfund was enacted – a public meeting was organized by a local group of citizens in Woburn, Massachusetts. Community concerns regarding environmental hazards had sparked the formation of the citizens group, For A Cleaner Environment (FACE) in the autumn before that first public meeting. FACE subsequently became a voice for the citizens of Woburn on the environmental and public health impacts of what later would become a Superfund site. This meeting brought together the state and federal environmental agencies to discuss with citizens the pollution of Wells G & H. At that meeting, EPA committed to study the extent of contamination at the site.
About this time, the community also became aware of what appeared to be a cluster of childhood leukemia cases near the site. During a public meeting, cases of the disease were identified, several within a small neighborhood near the wells. Citizens also were concerned by the elevated rate of birth defects and cancer in Woburn, and suspected that their exposure to contaminated drinking water had caused these illnesses.
In 1982, eight families who had lost children to leukemia filed a highly publicized civil suit against some of the alleged polluters. National and local media followed the case, keeping the focus on issues of liability.
EPA's site investigations were initiated in an emotionally charged atmosphere, coupled with friction among the polluters as some denied responsibility for the groundwater contamination.
In September 1983, EPA used its enforcement authority under Superfund and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to order the following cleanup activities:
- In 1983, EPA ordered three property owners (W.R. Grace, Beatrice Foods, and UniFirst) to fully study the nature and extent of contamination on their properties.
- In 1985, EPA ordered Wildwood Conservation Corporation to put up a fence and hire a 24-hour security guard to prevent public entry to the contaminated soil.
- In 1986 and 1987, EPA issued two orders to Olympia Nominee Trust to remove all drums and debris from the western portion of its property to an off-site licensed facility.
- Also in 1987, EPA ordered UniFirst to install monitoring wells and to remove pure tetrachloroethene found in a well on the property.
In 1988, EPA concluded its own detailed investigation that demonstrated that groundwater contamination came from five properties located around the municipal wells. The following September, after modifying proposals based on public comments, EPA selected its long-term approach for the site which included three types of active treatment.