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Field Investigation Begins At Sutton Brook Superfund Site In Tewksbury

Release Date: 10/18/04
Contact Information:

For Immediate Release: October 18, 2004

Contact: David Deegan, 617-918-1017; Release # 04-10-26

Boston– Field work has begun on the remedial investigation at the Sutton Brook Disposal Area Superfund site, in Tewksbury, Mass. The work will determine the nature and extent of contamination at the site, and is being conducted as part of a settlement agreement between EPA and potentially responsible parties.

Begun during the last week of September, the site assessment work is expected to continue until mid-December.

A site contractor for the potentially responsible parties will also is conduct various activities, including: Sampling of groundwater, soil, surface water and sediment; Installing groundwater monitoring wells; Subsurface soil investigations; Delineation of wetlands and flood plain; and a site survey. Remedial investigation activities are being conducted under oversight by EPA.

After data collection is complete, the soil, sediment and groundwater samples will undergo chemical analysis to define the extent of site contamination. Information will then be used to conduct a human health and ecological risk assessment. Following completion of the Remedial Investigation, cleanup alternatives for the site will be evaluated. A draft of the Remedial Investigation report for Sutton Brook Disposal Area site is expected in the spring of 2005 and will be made available, at that time, in the site information repository.

The Sutton Brook Disposal Area site, also known as Rocco Disposal and Dump or Rocco’s Landfill, was listed on the EPA’s National Priorities List (NPL) in June 2001.

Rocco’s Landfill began operations in the early 1950's. Although the landfill was ordered closed by the Town in 1979, waste disposal continued into the 1980's. The site includes a parcel of about 100 acres on which the landfill and a former drum disposal area are located. During operations, the landfill accepted municipal, commercial and industrial wastes.

Related Information:
Sutton Brook Disposal Site Fact Sheet
Superfund in New England