GSA Site In The News
from H2otown (with big ups to acegch2000)

In my absence from the East End, it seems that there had been talk of the Army Corps of Engineers selling the GSA Site, AKA the Northeast Area, AKA a part of the Sawin's Pond Brook wetland area to the Mass. DCR, who was in turn considering selling it to BB&N for use as a soccer field. Luckily, there are great blogs like H2otown keeping it real in East Watertown, and reporting this issue to the public. Susan Falkoff and the Watertown Citizens For Environmental Safety made sure that the public knew what was happening (articles in the TAB/press, Globe, and Herald), and attended the meetings.

To sum up: the DCR is not going to purchase the property until it is cleaned up to the point that anyone can go there (it is currently clean enough for everyone 6 and over), so nothing is going to happen to the GSA Site for now. Personally, this land should be remediated and turned into a wetland park for the people of Watertown. Selling it to a private school that isn't even in Watertown would be a slap in the face, considering the East End hosted this vital military base for so many years which incidentally left behind a ton of pollution for us to deal with. So what happened to all the depleted uranium that they "burned" in the Northeast Area? Did they find all the barrels that used to pop up out of the freaking ground?

More

State takes a pass on toxic park
By Christopher Loh/ Staff Writer
Friday, January 20, 2006

http://www2.townonline.com/watertown/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=412579&format=text

A piece of lead-contaminated Watertown land on Greenough Boulevard near Arsenal Street and Memorial Drive has sparked another fiery controversy in town.
The state has put a halt on the acceptance of the parcel from the federal government until further cleanup is performed.
The site was once a dumping ground for the Army and its depleted uranium scraps when it was a part of the formal Watertown Arsenal.
The parcel was discussed at a Restoration Advisory Board meeting Tuesday evening with representatives from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the federal government's General Services Administration in attendance.
State Sen. Steve Tolman, D-Boston, and a representative from Congressman Edward Markey's office were also in attendance.
According to member Susan Falkoff, RAB and Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety, plans for the site were going straight but "hit a right turn" at the meeting when a letter by DCR Commissioner Stephen Burrington was read declaring the department would accept nothing less but a full cleanup of the site.
Jay Peters, senior scientist for MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, a firm contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to assess the risk of contamination at the site, gave a presentation at the meeting concerning the risk factors.
Peters told the RAB three possible uses for the site were determined before any risk assessment was performed.
Those sites were determined to be a Metropolitan District Commission recreational facility consisting of athletic fields for organized sporting events and an indoor ice skating rink; a greenway that may be used for passive recreational activities; or a community vegetable garden.
Risk assessments performed by MACTAC yielded information that there appears to be no significant risk for use of the site as an MDC complex or a greenway, but would pose a significant problem as a garden.
MACTEC engineers focused on the risk assessment and the different risks associated with using the site as a greenway or playground.
MACTEC determined, according to Peters, that the site, if frequently used as a playground by children between the ages of 1 and 5, would require further cleanup.
The site, however, is approved for frequent use as athletic fields by persons older than 6 years old.
Peters speculated children between 1 and 6 years of age would be there at two-thirds the frequency of older children and adults.
"Without playground equipment, athletic fields are not attractive to young children for frequent play," the presentation read. "Young children generally only present at athletic fields as spectators during organized events; no other reason to frequently go to the athletic fields."
Residents in the area raised many concerns over this speculation of infrequent use by children under 6, especially those who live near the site.
RAB members said the distinction between frequent and infrequent needed to be defined further, although it seems by Burrington's letter the DCR will require complete cleanup of the lead at the site before it accepts the land from the GSA.
Falkoff said the letter was a complete surprise to everyone at the meeting, as the DCR previously made no demands regarding the cleanup of the site.
"They have to regroup," Falkoff said of the two departments after the "right turn" was taken.
Falkoff said she appreciated the letter by Burrington though, and was also happy to hear government officials at both the state and federal levels will be more involved in the process.
Tolman said he was surprised the GSA thought the state would accept the land.
"This is a no-brainer for me," Tolman, a parent of two children who both suffered neurological disorders from unknown causes, said of the demand for further cleanup. "I would never wish this on anyone."
Tolman said he would begin communications with the proper officials concerning the site.
The RAB will next meet to discuss the issue at 7 p.m. on March 15. A place has not yet been designated.
Christopher Loh can be reached at cloh@cnc.com.

posted by santo26 | 01:16 PM