[CPEO-MEF] PCBs, arsenic, petroleum high on clean-up list

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

[Massachusetts]

PCBs, arsenic, petroleum high on clean-up list
Shepley's Hill Landfill projects will fill voids left as environmental
clean-ups are completed
By C. David Gordon
CHIEF CORRESPONDENT

DEVENS - Judging from the latest reports presented to the Devens
Restoration Advisory Board, three of five remaining environmental
clean-up and restoration projects at the former Army base could be
concluded soon and thus drop off the charts -- except for long-term
monitoring.
The remaining two projects, related to the Shepley's Hill Landfill, have
the potential to fill any void left as the others generally fade from
view.

All six small former Army landfills have now been emptied of debris and
many of them have natural cover restored. No new material has been
brought to the newly created landfill receiving that debris, and the
process of capping this landfill is well on its way to completion. The
cap is to be completed by the end of November, James Henneberry of Stone
& Webster reported.

Three of the small former landfills have been graded, loamed and seeded
and restoration is well on its way. At Area of Contamination (AEC) 9,
near the wastewater treatment plant on the former North Post, the last
of the concrete excavated is being broken up for use as backfill
material and the final slope grading is being done. At AOC40 on Patton
Road, the portion of roadway taken out has been restored, steel sheeting
has been removed at the edge of what could now be called Cold Spring
Pond (a widening at this spot of Cold Spring Brook), and the last of the
regrading is being done on the remaining haul road. And at Study Area
(SA) 12 on South Post across from a firing range, a protective mesh has
been laid down on the steep slope to secure soil as plant growth begins
and guard rail has been installed.

On the project to remove pesticide-laden soil from beneath 149 housing
sites in the Army's former Grant, Locust and Cavite Housing Areas, David
Margolis of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported only about 20
remain to be completely checked off.

BRAC Environmental Coordinator Benjamin Goff reported that some traces
of PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyl) have been found above acceptable
limits at half a dozen sites in the former Grant area. This finding will
require further investigation and could well become a lingering problem
after the overall project has been completed.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.grotonlandmark.com/Stories/0,1413,107%257E5178%257E926707,00.html

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