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EPA to Remove Hazardous Substances from Maple Street Property in Stoughton

Release Date: 08/11/1997
Contact Information: Arthur Wing, OSC; (617) 573-5755 Erin Heskett, CIC; (617) 918-1054

BOSTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency began work this week to remove buried electrical capacitors that are leaking polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, at an unoccupied residential property on Maple Street in Stoughton, Mass.

Based on information provided by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MADEP), it is believed that a large number of capacitors containing oil were buried on the property. EPA investigators discovered a large capacitor that was leaking oil during an inspection of the property. Testing near the capacitor revealed high levels of PCBs in the soil.

High PCB levels in the soil, water, and in buried capacitors pose a variety of health risks to people who come into contact with the contamination. The EPA is also concerned that contamination could migrate and threaten organisms in the nearby wetland and brook, and potentially impact local drinking water quality.

"Local residents and businesses can count on a quick, efficient cleanup that will help to preserve what has grown into a prospering business community for the city of Stoughton," said John P. DeVillars, administrator of the EPA's New England office. "By the end of the summer, we should have removed the highly contaminated soils and debris from the property, and hopefully, moved one step closer to redevelopment."

In the coming weeks, EPA officials will conduct a more extensive study of the property to identify the extent of soil contamination and additional leaking electrical components. As the assessment progresses, a cleanup crew will begin excavating the soil to remove electrical components and highly contaminated soil and debris. Eventually, all highly contaminated materials and soils removed from the property will be shipped to licensed disposal facilities or treated.

"This is good news for the residents of Stoughton," said DEP Commissioner David B. Struhs. "DEP and EPA have worked cooperatively on a number of properties across the state to reduce imminent risks of contamination, and I am confident this will be another successful cleanup."

A security guard will be posted during non-working hours of the cleanup to restrict access by neighbors to the property. In addition, officials have erected a fence around the property with hazard signs to limit access to the property.

MA DEP officials first observed capacitors in the area during a response to an oil spill on Maple Road in 1992. The owner of the Maple Street property was notified of the exposed capacitors and MA DEP then conducted an emergency response to stabilize the site. The state removed approximately 300 capacitors from the property, and covered the remaining capacitors with plastic and up to two feet of sand.

Due to the temporary nature and limited life expectancy of the sand cap, the MA DEP requested that the EPA evaluate the property to determine the need for further cleanup measures.