Tuesday, April 23, 2024

EPA announces final cleanup plan for Massachusetts superfund site

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Oct. 1 it completed its record of decision (ROD) on the cleanup plan for the Nuclear Metals, Inc., superfund site in Concord, Massachusetts.

The ROD details the EPA's options and planned measures to clean up the approximately 46-acre site, a project estimated to cost $125 million.

“EPA is pleased to complete this milestone and prepare to implement further cleanup at the Nuclear Metals site,” EPA New England Office Regional Administrator Curt Spalding said. “Our goal with this remedy is to protect human health and the environment by preventing risk of exposure to contaminants still present at the site.”

Starting in 1958, the site was home to a manufacturing facility that produced depleted uranium products and metal powders. The work left the site’s soil, sediment and groundwater contaminated, and previous EPA cleanup efforts were undertaken to remove dangerous materials and address contaminated buildings.

The current ROD provides for measures that include like soil excavation and removal for offsite disposal and stabilizing and containing the Holding Basin soils with a vertical wall and horizontal cover. The ROD also includes plans to clean up a 1,4 dioxane plume in the groundwater, which may be migrating to below the adjacent Assabet River.