xvEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Harbor Cleanup News New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site EPA Cleanup Program Harbor PCB Dredging Enters Sixth Season With additional funding through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, EPA has begun this year's full-scale, dredging cleanup of New Bedford harbor months ahead of the usual schedule. EPA expects to dredge three times as long this year and target the harbor bottom north of Route 195. EPA officially began dredging on June 5, 2009 and expects to continue dredging until late fall. This is EPA's sixth round of full-scale dredging of PCB-contaminated bottom sediment in New Bedford Harbor. This funding will also extend next year's dredging season to five months as well. How does the dredging work? Where do the PCBs go? The dredging crews will work 12-hour shifts, from 6 a.m. to 6 pm Monday through Saturday. The dredged sediment from the harbor bot- tom is pumped directly into a floating pipeline that is connected to the dredge, which sends the sediment to EPA's de-sanding building located at the end Sawyer Street in New Bed- ford.The coarse sand, shells and debris mate- rial are separated from the finer sediment that has most of the PCB-contamination attached to itThe separated coarse material will be temporarily stored in a holding area next to the de-sanding facility. This material will then be transported off-site. A submerged pipeline carries the contami- nated silt 1.4 miles south to the dewatering facility located at Hervey Tichon Avenue and Herman Melville Boulevard in New Bedford. Inside the dewatering facility, large presses squeeze the excess water out of the dredged sediment before it is loaded into wrapped and sealed train cars for offsite disposal. The PCB contaminated material will be transported by railcar to a licensed PCB landfill in Michigan.The excess water is filtered and treated to very stringent water quality levels before being released back into the harbor. Additionally, water and air quality monitoring will be conducted throughout the dredging period. Summer 2009 Looking Ahead and Your Involvement EPA continually needs your help and input as the cleanup process is underway. It is impor- tant that the communities which share New Bedford Harbor and the abutting Buzzards Bay are involved, informed and feel safe about the cleanup work EPA,alongside the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Chy of New Bedford and the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission host evening public informational meetings twice a year in the spring and fall to provide updates on the Harbor cleanupThe last meeting of this scale was held on April 30th and was taped by New Bedford's local Cable Access Studio, and the presentations can be viewed on EPA's Cleanup website listed below.The next meeting is planned for the October/November 2009 timeframe, at which point EPA will be conclud- ing the 2009 dredging season. You ore we/come to bring your questions or concerns directfy to our Superfund Team during ifte last Thursday of every month. EPA hosts an informal walk-in meeting at 10:00 a.m. at our Sawyer Street trailers. For more about this Superfund site's history, past cleanup activities and progress, as well as documents and video about the cleanup process please visitwww.epa.gov/ne/nbh For more information, please contact: U.S. EPA Toll Free I (888)372-7341 U.S. EPA Community Involvement Jeanethe Falvey, ext. 8-1020 falvey.jeanethe@epa.gov U.S. EPA Project Managers Dave Dickerson, ext. 8-1329 dickerson.dave@epa.gov Elaine Stanley, ext. 8-1332 stanley.elaineT@epa.gov MassDEP Joe Coyne (617)348-4066 joseph.coyne@state.ma.us (above) Governor Devo/ Patrick, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang celebrate Recovery Act funding at EPA's dewanering facility (above) Changing bag fitters at water treatment plant While seafood is part of a healthy diet; fish, quahogs and lobsters from the Acushnet River and New Bedford Harbor contain high levels of PCBs. Illness and harm to your health could result if eaten regularly, especially to pregnant women and those of childbearing age. Please take caution and notice of the restrictions on fishing and lobstering that have been in place since 1979. " continued > ------- --'•"" f.3 .•-•rs»*BiaŁ.v;.r^.,;:a: New Bedford Harbor Superfund Cleanup Areas Remediated through 2008 Per 1998 ROD Legend 2009 Clean up areas Areas partially or fully remediated as of 11/1/08 Areas to be dredged per 1998 ROD Created on 6/24/2009. Map Tracker ID: 6174. Image from DigitalGlobe dated 4/1/2007. United States Environmental Protection Agency Summer 2009 ------- |