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BOS
wants water treatment site tested for contaminants
By Mike Berger
Citizen Staff
Selectmen
Chairman John Connolly promised the residents of the Riverview
Road neighborhood that the town would spend as much as it takes
to make sure the soil around a proposed water treatment plant is
safe from any possible contaminants emanating from former
tannery buildings, which last operated some 50 years ago.
Nearly 50
residents and members of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of
Appeals, and Conservation Commission crowded the Salah Meeting
Room Monday night to hear presentations from DPW Superintendent
Mike Trotta, project consultant Paul Howard from the engineering
firm Tata and Howard, and Peter Newton from SEA, which has been
the main consultant for Well No. 9, a major water supply for the
town.
Although
residents mentioned zoning, quality of life, and security
concerns, the chief issue Monday night was the possibility of
contaminants from six former tanning buildings that were located
in the Neponset Valley industrial plant and operated from the
1920s to the 1950s. Several residents mentioned Woburn and the
contaminants of the W.R. Grace plant, the subject of the book
and film “A Civil Action.”
The site of
the tannery buildings are approximately 1,100 feet from the site
of the water treatment plant, according to Trotta.
Connolly said
water quality is important but safety is number one, and he,
like other residents throughout the town, do not want to drink
water that is not safe.
“We will do
the soil test borings for safety,” he said.
Trotta
estimated results from the testing borings would take several
weeks and would cost somewhere in the vicinity of $6,000 to
$8,000.
Selectmen
hosted the meeting Monday night so that all boards as well as
residents would get updated information about the plant. At the
beginning of the meeting, Town Administrator Bill Friel read a
note from the Board of Assessors, which said it found “minimal
if any impact” to residential property values in the Riverview
Road area because of the proposed treatment plant.
Town Counsel
Paul DeRensis said even though the land is zoned parkland and
open space, in his opinion, the land could be used in
conjunction with the town water supply.
Under
consideration is a metal, $11 million, 115 by 85-foot building
to be built on town-owned land behind the Neponset Valley
Technology Park. The treatment plant is within a short distance
of three major town wells and another well site, which is off
line.
Trotta said
plans call for another six weeks of regulatory hearings by the
local town boards. Bidding on the project could occur in late
January with construction slated to begin in May. Trotta said
construction will be an 18-month project with completion set for
November of 2010. He said he would like residents from the
Riverview Road area to sit on an advisory panel to oversee
progress of the project.
Trotta and
Howard reaffirmed the following revisions after three or four
redraftings of the plant design.
* There will
be a 100-foot buffer of undisturbed land between the property
line of the nearest resident’s property to the treatment plant.
* The town
will spend $75,000 worth of plantings and trees.
* The town is
open to a variety of facades in the appearance of the building.
* The town is
in negotiations with a resident for an easement to build an
accessory roadway, which will be plowed during the winter.
* The
treatment plant will be gated, have a barricade fence, barbed
wire and security cameras. However, Police Chief Ken Berkowitz
discounted the notion that the site would be a threat for
terrorist action.
* The plant
will have a small laboratory in the building to be used only for
testing water.
Howard said
there will be no drainage impact from the plant since drainage
will be directed toward the river, and noted there is no adverse
impact to wildlife and has a notice from the state indicating
that the town does not have to file an environmental impact
report. He said the biggest noise from the facility will be the
backup generator, which will be located in the rear of the
plant.
Although some
residents were pleased that Connolly promised funding for soil
tests around the site, other residents brought up objections
about the impact to real estate values and said that the project
belonged in an industrial zone.
Sherry Alpert
of 3 Riverview Road read a list of objections to the plant,
including zoning. (See letter on page 2.)
Connolly said
the purpose of the new water treatment plant is to lower the
town’s dependence on MWRA water and to deliver safe, quality
water to residents. Trotta said town officials looked at many
sites around town but had two major requirements for siting:
that the plant had to be within 1,000 feet from a water source
and had to be on town-owned land. The best site after a cost
analysis, he said, was off Riverview Road.
Carl Lavin of
Fuller Street said he wants a town-wide water management plan
because he is fearful of possible contamination from Plymouth
Rubber leading to other Canton waterways such as Factory Pond.
November 6, 2008
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