Officials Unveil $16 Million Cleanup Plan for PCB-Contaminated Property on Route 1-August 10, 1989

Nine-Year Investigation Yields Three-Phase Strategy to Address New England’s Worst PCB Contamination at Audubon Road Site, with Public Hearing Scheduled at Town Hall

Federal and state officials are unveiling a $16 million strategy tonight to clean up the severely PCB-contaminated Grant Gear property on Route 1. The public information session will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Memorial Hall at Norwood Town Hall, marking a major milestone after roughly nine years of government investigation into what is recognized as the worst polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination ever discovered in New England. The 26-acre parcel off Audubon Road and Kerry Place—situated near Meadow Brook and the Neponset River—contains three primary hazardous chemicals linked to cancer in laboratory animals: PCBs, trichloroethene, and vinyl chloride.

While the contamination poses minimal immediate threat to public health—with EPA regional site manager Jane Downing noting a minimal long-term cancer risk of about one in 100,000 for children who played near Meadow Brook over past decades—the highest toxicity levels remain concentrated within the fenced Grant Gear property.

Grant Gear, which has occupied the site since 1980, has been cleared of all responsibility by federal authorities. Investigators determined that a succession of previous tenants manufacturing transformers and electrical components between 1942 and 1979 poured PCBs down drains and directly onto the soil.

Who will ultimately fund the $16 million project remains uncertain; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lawyers are currently negotiating financial settlements with approximately ten responsible corporate entities, a process Downing noted could take years. Construction and remediation work is expected to begin in about two years.

The comprehensive EPA cleanup plan comprises three distinct phases:

• Phase 1 (Soil and Sediment Remediation): Focused around Meadow Brook, this phase will chemically treat contaminated soil and sediment to extract toxins, which will then be shipped out of state for high-temperature incineration. The process is projected to take at least two years.
• Phase 2 (Groundwater Air-Stripping): The most complex stage, lasting at least seven years, involves forcing air through the groundwater to evaporate volatile toxins. Federal officials emphasized that Norwood does not rely on groundwater for drinking water, drawing its municipal supply instead from the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts.
• Phase 3 (Building and Drainage Decontamination): Spanning approximately eight months, this phase addresses serious contamination inside the Grant Gear plant and its drainage network. Officials plan to flush chemical solvents through drainage lines, encase uncleaned sections in concrete, and wipe factory equipment with PCB-dissolving chemical cloths.

The EPA will accept public commentary on the proposed cleanup strategy during a 30-day window beginning Friday, followed by a formal public hearing at 7:30 p.m. on August 24 at Town Hall. (Reporting by Lyndsey Layton for The Patriot Ledger).

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger