Question: Was URS Corp. hired by the Air Force?
Were they hired to just monitor or to clean up the spill?
Leslee Willitts
----- Original Message -----
From: "Save Our Towns" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'Danforthfarm Neighbors'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Framingham
Neighbors'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'Town Meeting Members'"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:37 AM
Subject: PUD in the today's MWD 7-31-03
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Andrea Carr-Evans
>
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> <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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