United States Environmental Protection Agency OSWER/OSRTI Washington, DC 20460 National Priorities List (NPL) * * *Proposed Site * * * September 2012 WALTON & LONSBURY INC. Attleboro, Massachusetts Bristol County (^) Site Location: The 2.8-acre Walton & Lonsbury Inc. (W&L) facility is located in a mixed residential/industrial area in the southeastern Massachusetts City of Attleboro. n. Site History: Operations at W&L site date back to 1940 and include industrial chromium plating with a minor copper plating operation. The facility was equipped with multiple oversize chromic acid dipping tanks placed beneath the facility floor. Facility operations included parts degreasing using trichloroethylene (TCE), grit blasting, chrome plating using cyanide, stripping with acids, aqueous rinsing, grinding and polishing. Prior to the construction of a wastewater treatment system in 1970, untreated wastewater was discharged directly to a wetland adjacent to the facility. After construction, chrome hydroxide sludge generated by the treatment system was discharged to an unlined lagoon and wastewater was discharged to another unlined surface impoundment, and from there through the wetland area to Bliss Brook. This treatment system was replaced with a closed-loop system in 1984. However, the continued use of an onsite dry well to receive gray water from the facility, leaky plating tanks, and roof runoff containing chromium condensate from the process air vents has contributed to the continuing contamination of onsite soils. I Site Contamination/Contaminants: Principal contaminants associated with the site include total and hexavalent chromium, lead and TCE. in* Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment: Site-related wastes have been detected at elevated concentrations in wetlands adjacent to the facility, on residential properties abutting the wetlands and along Bliss Brook up to 0.4 mile downstream of the facility. Residents in houses and apartments located within the contaminated areas are threatened by wastes migrating from the facility. Although two ground water plumes containing hexavalent chromium and TCE are migrating from the facility, local ground water is not used as a drinking water supply. ^Response Activities (to date): The EPA has demolished the building, removed the chromium dipping tanks, fenced the facility, excavated contaminated soils and documented site wastes in the adjacent wetlands and on private residential properties near the facility. Several residences with concentrations of hexavalent chromium in surface soils posing concerns are being addressed by the Superfund removal program. The state is investigating potential vapor intrusion concerns and has provided sub-slab treatment systems to three homes with vapor intrusion contamination. 0 Need for NPL Listing: The state of Massachusetts referred the site to the EPA and provided an NPL support letter to ensure a comprehensive evaluation and cleanup. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. [The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.] For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaas/index.asp or bv telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737. ------- |