Skip to content
Description
- US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Potential Liability and Invitation to Perform or Finance Proposed Cleanup Activities for the Parker Street Waste Site to the New Bedford Housing Authority (NBHA). EPA proposed removing 3+ feet of soil from the entirety of a 52-building public housing complex at a cost of over $20 million.
- MassDEP and Public Interest Groups also pressured NBHA to remediate.
- The property is impacted with urban fill material containing coal ash placed at the site in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The parcels were taken by eminent domain in approximately 1950 by NBHA for housing.
- The top foot of loam at the site is uncontaminated. Heavy metals and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) impacts are present in soil at depths of 1-8 feet.
Services
- Advised NBHA to legally challenge EPA and MassDEP and to contract a qualified Environmental Attorney.
- Performed detailed historical research and reviewed comprehensive soil sampling sets by EPA. Reviewed Parker Street Waste Site documents and data. Definiteively proved the property is not in the Parker Street Waste Site. Proved filling of site occured prior to the Parker Street Waste Site Contamination.
- Coordinated with NBHA, HUD, EPA, MassDEP, City of New Bedford, and Public Interest Groups.
- Prepared and together with counsel successfully argued regulatory exemptions from MassDEP regulation under the MCP and convinced EPA to accept financial liability for response actions. Saved $20 Million dollars for NBHA.
