Bay State Plating and Polishing, Inc. is within the Lawrence central business district, between a canal and the Merrimack River. The inactive plating facility is on the third floor of a five-story building, with businesses above, below and beside its partition walls. The neighborhood is a low income and minority environmental justice area.
Bay State Plating and Polishing operated from 1997 to July 2004, when the company was evicted for non-payment of rent. The assets, which include plating and finishing chemicals, were seized. In the plating area, there are open vats containing concentrated cyanide solutions, strong acids, and highly alkaline liquids. Approximately 400 corroded and haphazardly piled containers of incompatible chemicals are in fair to poor condition. The area is not heated or maintained, with broken windows. Overhead fire sprinklers are operational.
