SUPERFUND
                                                                            Cleaning Up New England
                                                           SITE  UPDATE
                      Blackburn & Union Privileges  Site   Walpole,  MA
                         U.S. EPA |  HAZARDOUS  WASTE  PROGRAM  AT  EPA  NEW  ENGLAND
                                                           THE   SUPERFUND  PROGRAM   protects human  health
                                                             and the environment by investigating and cleaning up  often-abandoned
                                                             hazardous waste sites and engaging communities throughout the process.
                                                              Many of these sites are complex and need long-term  cleanup actions.
                                                              Those responsible for  contamination are held liable  for cleanup costs.
                                                             EPA strives to return  previously contaminated  land and groundwater
                                                             to productive use.
SITE  DESCRIPTION:
The Blackburn & Union Privileges site located in Walpole, MA was added to the Superfund National Priority
List in 1994 and includes industrial properties and undeveloped or residential properties and other areas where
contamination has come to be located. Industrial and commercial processes on the site date back to the 1600s.
Between 1891 and 1915, the site was used for manufacture of tires, rubber goods, and insulating materials. The
crushing of raw asbestos in the manufacture of brake and clutch linings occurred at the site between 1915 and
1937. Various cotton and fabric production processes were conducted at the site from 1937 until  1985. As a
result of these industrial operations, soil, sediment and groundwater are contaminated with inorganic chemi-
cals (including asbestos and metals), volatile organic compounds, pol/cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and highly
alkaline compounds.
RECENT  ACTIVITIES:
A $13 million legal settlement to clean up the site
was reached between four parties and the United
States in December 2010. The parties involved in the
settlement include W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn., a former
owner and operator of the site; Tyco Healthcare
Group, also former owner and operator; as well as
BIM Investment Corp. and Shaffer Realty Nominee
Trust, the current owners. Under the settlement, the
four parties will, among other things:

   • Excavate and dredge contaminated soil and
    sediment East & West of South Street, in
    the Former Mill Tailrace, along the Neponset
    River, and within Lewis Pond;
   • Treat contaminated groundwater that poses a
    risk to surface waters;
   • Establish land use restrictions for the site; and
   • Perform long-term monitoring of soil, sedi-
    ment and groundwater.
  Under the agreement, the private parties are
  required to maintain the site's existing cap and
  culvert, and perform engineering studies needed to
  ensure the long-term  integrity of the structures.
  SUPERVISION
  Although these responsible parties will be
  performing the cleanup, EPA and MassDEP will
  be actively supervising all aspects of the cleanup
  to ensure the work complies with environmental
  regulations and adheres to the cleanup plan.


NEXT STEPS:
Now that the final cleanup plan has been selected,
engineering design work needs to be done before the
cleanup is started. Additional information is often

                         I Protect!
                                  March 2011
                                                    KEY CONTACTS:
                                                    DAVE LEDERER
                                                    U.S. EPA Remedial
                                                    Project Manager
                                                    (617)  918-1325
                                                    lederer.dave@epa.gov
STACY GREENDLINGER
U.S. EPA Community
Involvement Coordinator
(617) 918-1403
greendlinger.stacy@epa.gov

ROBERT CAMPBELL
Project Manager
MA Dept. of Environmental
Protection
(617) 292-5732
Robert.g.cam pbell@state. ma.us


GENERAL  INFO:
EPA NEW  ENGLAND
5 Post Office  Sq.,
Suite 100
Boston,  MA 02109-3912

TOLL-FREE
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1-888-EPA-7341

LEARN  MORE AT:
www.epa.gov/region1/
superfund/sites/blackburn
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ENVIRONMENTAL  ACTIVITIES

1985	Environmental investigations initiated.
1988	EPA issued 1st Administrative Order for Removal Action to Shaffer Realty Nominee Trust and BIM Investment Trust to assess
                  extent of contamination, prepare a report of assessment and proposed response plan.
1992	EPA issued 2nd Administrative Order for Removal Action to Shaffer Realty Nominee Trust, BIM Investment Trust, and W.R. Grace
                  & Co.-Conn. to excavate asbestos-contaminated soil, consolidate and cover soil with 30 inches of clean soil and fence-in the covered
                  area. This covered area is referred to as the Area of Containment (AOC). Grace also redirected the Neponset River with 400-foot
                  long aluminum plate arch culvert to run through the AOC.
1994	Site was added to the National Priorities  List of the Superfund Program.
1999	An Administrative Order on Consent was reached with the potentially responsible parties to perform the Remedial Investigation/
                  Feasibility Study. A recovery of past costs agreement was reached with W.R. Grace and Tyco.
2000-05	Preliminary Remedial Investigation work was completed.
2006 & 2007	Additional asbestos risk sampling and assessment was performed. Additional groundwater and soil samples were analyzed.  Remedial
                  Investigation was completed. Feasibility Study of cleanup alternatives was developed.
2008	The long-term cleanup plan, formalized in a Record of Decision, was issued in September.
June 2009	EPA began a short-term cleanup removing asbestos and hazardous substances in drums and containers from the former mill building.
                  Effort concludes in October with nearly 30 tons of asbestos and asbestos containing debris, as well as over 2,700 pounds of hazard-
                  ous materials and waste oils removed.
2010	A $13 million legal settlement was entered on December 21 requiring the four responsible parties to conduct the site cleanup.
NEXT  STEPS:  (cont.)
sought to better inform the designs. Various sampling efforts and evalu-
ations will be undertaken in 2011 and 2012 to ensure refined, detailed
designs.

Activities will include:
   •  On-site contaminated soil sampling to refine volume estimates
     for off-site disposal;
   •  Groundwater extraction and treatment systems engineering
     studies;
   •  Sampling in Lewis Pond and the tailrace area on-site to refine
     sediment dredging volumes;
   •  Sediment excavation and dewatering techniques evaluation;
   •  Existing culvert engineering analysis to ensure its integrity in
     flooding; and
   •  Sampling in Neponset River downstream of Lewis Pond to
     evaluate potential for contaminant transport beyond the West
     Street Dam.

Once these studies have been completed, the first in a series of design
submissions will be developed by engineers for EPA's review and approval.
It is anticipated that the first design deliverable will be prepared by early
2012. The design process is likely to take approximately two years in
total, before bidding and cleanup can begin.

Two components of the cleanup plan, the long-term monitoring of
groundwater and surface water and the preparation of land-use restric-
tions for areas of the site, will begin in 2011.
THE  CLEANUP  PLAN
The long-term cleanup plan for the site was selected in
September 2008 and calls for:
1. Excavation and dredging with off-site disposal of con-
  taminated soil and sediment West of South Street, East
  of South Street, in the Former Mill Tailrace, along the
  Neponset River, and within Lewis Pond;
2. Extraction and treatment of contaminated groundwa-
  ter posing a risk to surface waters and discharge of
  treated groundwater to the Former Mill Tailrace;
3. Institutional controls, including environmental restric-
  tions and easements, and  the establishment of soil man-
  agement practices on areas where waste will be left in
  place, restrictions on the  use of groundwater both east
  and west of South Street, and at least yearly monitor-
  ing of compliance with all institutional controls; and
4. Long term monitoring of  all areas where waste will be
  left in place, as well as monitoring of groundwater to
  ensure that there are not exceedances of the cleanup
  standards for groundwater beyond the groundwater
  compliance boundary for  the waste management areas
  east and west of South  Street.

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                                                       DATE: MARCH 2011
 BLACKBURN & UNION PRIVILEGES
 SUPERFUND SITE MAP
                                                    LEWIS POND
                                                      AREA
      LOWER
 FORMER MILL TAILRACE
                                                    WEST/STREET
                                 GROUNDWATER
                              COMPLIANCE BOUNDAR:
                                s/
      UPPER
 FORMER MILL TAILRACE
 ^AREA OF
CONTAINMENT
      0
     0
                                FORMER MILL BUILDING
                                        WEST OF SOUTH STREET AREA
                                     EAST OF SOUTH
                    STREET AREA
                                                      Legend

                                             GROUNDWATER COMPLIANCE BOUNDARY
                                             WEST OF SOUTH STREET AREA

                                             EAST OF SOUTH STREET AREA

                                             LEWIS POND AREA

                                             NEPONSET RIVER

                                             LOWER FORMER MILL TAILRACE

                                             UPPER FORMER MILL TAILRACE


                                            , CONTAINMENT AREA
                                         IK* "
GRAPHICAL SCALE
0    200   400
I	1	1
               I Protect!

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               Environmental Protec ion
               Agency
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           Important update

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