The Site is located at 156 Princeton Street in a residential area of Holden, Massachusetts. The Site is abutted by residential properties to the north, Princeton Street and residential properties to the west, Quinapoxet Street and residential properties to the south, and Asnebumskit Brook to the east. The Jefferson School is located about 1/2 mile to the west. A municipal water supply well (the Spring Street Well) operated by the Town of Holden Water Department is located approximately 0.25 miles to the north. The Site is located within the wellhead protection area for this public water supply.
The Site includes a two-story brick and cinder block manufacturing building located on an approximately 17-acre property. ECC Corporation conducted electroplating operations, including manufacturing of printed circuit boards, beginning in the 1950s. The facility has been inactive and unoccupied since shutting down in 2005. The building is without electricity, heat, water, or fire protection utilities. Tanks, drums, and other containers of hazardous substances are present, primarily in the wastewater treatment area of the facility. Approximately 7,000 gallons of hazardous materials are present, including potassium cyanide, acids, bases, flammables, metal hydroxide sludge, and lead.
On December 1, 2006, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) notified EPA of the presence of cyanides, acids, bases, and metal solutions at this abandoned plating shop and requested EPA's assistance in addressing the Site. On December 8, 2006, EPA conducted a Preliminary Assessment/Site Investigation (PA/SI) which included walking the Site with representatives of MassDEP, the Town of Holden Fire Department, and ECC Corp. (the private owner/operator of the Site) and reviewing the inventory of hazardous substances present in tanks, drums, and other containers. The PA/SI was concluded, and a removal action was recommended in a closure memo dated December 19, 2006.
On December 27, 2006, ECC began conducting and documenting daily security checks of the Site. To date, no signs of disturbance or unauthorized entry have been observed. On January 6-7, 2007, ECC consolidated, inventoried, and staged lab-pack chemicals from the laboratory into the wastewater treatment area and barred doors and installed a locking gate to better secure the facility. ECC has also plowed snow from the driveway and parking lot to facilitate access by EPA and its contractors.
EPA conducted a site walk on January 31, 2007 with the Emergency Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contractor, the Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contractor, MassDEP, and ECC Corp. to review site conditions and discuss upcoming removal activities. Based on information obtained during the site walk, the ERRS contractor is currently designating waste streams and identifying potential disposal facilities.
Planned removal activities include sampling and characterizing the hazardous substances present, consolidating and repackaging containers as needed, and disposing of hazardous substances at approved off-site disposal and recycling facilities. If EPA identifies hazardous substances which are usable products in good condition, EPA will seek to return such products to the manufacturer or another secure facility for re-use.
The ERRS contractor's first priority is to provide off-site disposal for the drums, lab-pack chemicals, and bulk acids by the end of February 2007.
|
