Announcements
and Key Topics
Site
Response Pages
EPA
is created new response pages for each new Action Memorandum. To view the Bliss
Corner Neighborhood Site - Removal Response II click here.
To view the Bliss Corner Neighborhood Site - Removal Response III click here.
Background
In
July 2018, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
responded to an odor complaint at an unoccupied residential lot at 85 McCabe
Street in the Bliss Corner Neighborhood of Dartmouth, MA. MassDEP identified
buried waste material and subsequently executed soil sampling for PCBs.
Historical records were uncovered shortly thereafter that revealed that refuse
dumping had been occurring in the Neighborhood since at least the 1930s.
In
May 2019, MassDEP conducted sampling at 18 additional properties in the
Neighborhood. On half of these properties, a subsurface layer consisting of
coal ash, glass (including fragments and intact containers), brick, and
coal-clinkers was discovered, which came to be a defining characteristic of the
contaminated properties. High levels of lead and PCBs were measured in several
locations as well. MassDEP initiated a third sampling initiative in September
2019 at volunteer residential properties across the Neighborhood. The sampling
results indicated a wide range of lead and PCB concentrations, many of which
exceeded the EPA lead Removal Management Level and the MassDEP PCB Imminent
Hazard Level.
In
October 2020, EPA received a request from MassDEP to provide residential
sampling assistance, and from July 2020 through June 2021, EPA and MassDEP
sampled almost 50 additional properties. In June 2021, MassDEP requested
support from EPA to conduct removal actions at residential properties in the
Bliss Corner Neighborhood.
What Has Been Done to Clean Up the Site?
In
2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided analytical and
sampling support to Mass DEP during their continued residential sampling
activities planned for the Bliss Corner Neighborhood. From July 2020 through
June 2021, MassDEP and EPA sampled 46 residential properties in the
neighborhood. The main contaminants of concern identified from this sampling
were lead and polychlorinated biphenyls, better known as PCBs.
MassDEP
requested EPA support to remove contaminated soil at some of the properties
with the greatest health risk. The initial Action Memorandum approved in
2021 covered five residential properties in the Bliss Corner
neighborhood. These five properties had elevated levels of lead and/or
PCBs that exceeded the MassDEP Imminent Hazard level in surficial soil and pose
a risk to human health and the environment. The clean up and restoration
of these properties began in 2022 and was completed in the spring of 2023.
The
Action Memorandum was amended four times to include additional residential
properties and a school all located in the Bliss Corner neighborhood. The first
amendment covered EPA’s staging area. The second amendment covered a
residential property due to high levels of PCBs which was cleaned and restored
in the summer of 2023. The third amendment added 5 residential properties and a
school. The fourth amendment did not change the scope and only increased
the ceiling to ensure sufficient funding was approved to cover all T&D and
restoration costs.
In
this Action Memorandum, EPA completed the cleanup and restoration at 14
properties.
What
is the Current Site Status?
The
official completion and demobilization date of Bliss Corner Neighborhood Site was September 17, 2024. However, EPA continues to work in the neighborhood on Bliss Corner Neighborhood Site III.
The
Administrative Record is available for review online at:
or by scanning this QR code.
Locations to access the online Administrative Record include:
- U.S.
EPA SEMS Records and Information Center, 5 Post Office Square, Suite 100,
Boston, MA, 02109-3912, (617) 918-1440, by appointment.
- Southworth Library, 732 Dartmouth St, Dartmouth, MA 02748
