[CPEO-BIF] "The toxins left behind"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

EPA cleanups and 

By Ariel Wittenberg
Walpole Times (MA)
August 20. 2014



Trout caught in Torch Lake, Mich., are not safe to eat. Groundwater in Baldwin, Fla., is not safe to drink. Six acres of land in Bridgewater, Mass., are not safe to live on.
Like contaminated land on South Street in Walpole, all three locations were once among the most dangerous toxic waste sites in the country and became part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund cleanup program. All three are now considered clean by the EPA,though toxins remain.

The EPA is responsible for protecting human health at 1,700 hazardous waste sites across the country through the Superfund program. These sites contain chemicals that can cause a range of serious illnesses, from cancer to birth defects to neurological disorders. In Walpole, the South Street Superfund site once housed tire factories and other industries that produced asbestos byproducts. The site was added to the Superfund Priority list in 1994.

The South Street site is nearing cleanup, after more than 20 years of inactivity. The town recently pushed for a deal with the business owners responsible for the contamination, resulting in a clean up plan that should have the land ready for use as soon as 2016. Part of the deal requires the town to use the space for municipal purposes, with plans for a senior center and police station on the cleaned land.

…

For the entire article, see
http://walpole.wickedlocal.com/article/20140820/NEWS/140829500/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope Street
Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650-961-8918 or 650-969-1545
Fax: 650-961-8918
LSiegel@cpeo.org
http://www.cpeo.org




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