-----Original Message-----
From: Andrea Carr-Evans
<http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/fram_wells0731200
3.htm>
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/local_regional/fram_wells07312003
.htm
Experts: Reactivating wells an expensive process
By D. Craig MacCormack / News Staff Writer
Thursday, July 31, 2003
FRAMINGHAM -- Reactivating long-dormant town-owned wells on the
Saxonville site where 665 new houses and apartments are planned might be
an expensive proposition.
That is why the reactivation of the three wells was not factored into a
recently completed report by URS Corp. of Maine, the company hired to
monitor the site after contamination from a U.S. Air Force experiment.
"When they get closer to actually turning the wells on, we'll talk,"
said Tom Woodard, the licensed site professional on the Planned Unit
Development proposed by National Development of New England.
In the meantime, Public Works Director Peter Sellers plans to write
another letter to the Department of Environmental Protection and
Environmental Protection Agency telling them the town wants more study
of the wells as the development proceeds.
"The well site is an extremely valuable asset to the town that we are
determined to protect at all costs," Sellers said. "We definitely want
to protect our interests."
In 1985, New England Sand and Gravel leased some land on the PUD site to
the Air Force, which wanted to test methods for quickly patching runways
after they had been bombed. Spilled into the sand was
tetrachloroethylene, or TCE, often used as a solvent. The Air Force
hired URS to clean up and monitor the site.
The area was also affected by iron and manganese as well as the storage
of spoils from tunneling, Woodard said.
"The wells are in very poor condition, and we believe it would require a
substantial amount of money to be reactivated," he said. "The feeling
was it would take quite some time to do."
Andrea Carr-Evans of Save Our Towns, a regional group that opposes the
PUD, said the problem with URS ignoring the possibility of reactivating
the wells is that National Development includes references to the report
in its environmental impact report.
The company could dig irrigation wells on the site, but has not divulged
where those wells would be, Carr-Evans said.
"I was very concerned that the (report) didn't include that
information," she said. "There's a disconnect here."
Public comment on the environmental impact report is open through Aug.
7.
The URS report does refer to the wells being reactivated, Woodard said,
but the references are not directly tied into Sellers' letter. URS did
get a copy of the letter before putting its report together, he said.
"I think a lot of the answers are in there," Woodard said.
Woodard noted that the concentration of TCE in the studied area exceeds
the standards for drinking water. It has gone down since work began
about 15 years ago, he said.
The state began active investigation into the contamination in 1990,
according to an earlier report, when the town began looking at the
possibility of resuming use of the wells. Tests showed some of the
chemical had found its way into nearby groundwater.
URS must visit the site at least every five years to test the
concentration levels, said Woodard, and the contaminants may degrade on
their own over time.
"We've done all we need to do," Woodard said. "We're heading in the
right direction, but it's nothing that's going to happen overnight."
(Craig MacCormack can be reached at 508-626-4429 or [EMAIL PROTECTED])
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