Site's cleanup meets state deadline

METHUEN -- David Spada has complied with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's request to identify and remove barrels and an underground storage tank from his 4 Gleason St. property in Methuen.

''Pretty much everything we had listed on our previous order was taken care of," said Ed Coletta, spokesman for the department, after speaking to agents who visited the site Monday afternoon. ''The barrels were removed. The underground tank was removed. Most of the stockpiles were removed or are being removed."

Spada plans to build a 90-bed assisted-living facility and about 20,000 square feet of retail and medical office space on the Gleason Street and adjoining 254 Broadway properties, as part of Methuen's plan for revitalization along the Spicket River.

Neighbors have tried to halt the development of the abandoned industrial site, saying increased illness and cancer cases in the neighborhood are related to contamination found in the soil at the property, an issue the state Department of Public Health has been investigating for the past 10 months.

The cleanup is a part of turning the industrial-zoned site into an area appropriate for residential use. The site was formerly home to a metal cabinet-making factory and businesses that made semiconductors, shoes, and hats. Soil on the property has tested positive for suspected carcinogens, as well as mercury and chromium.

Department of Environmental Protection inspectors visited the site early this month and discovered unmarked barrels filled with chemicals, a previously unknown underground storage tank, uncovered stockpiles of contaminated soil, and a lack of proper fencing around the property. They ordered Spada to fix these problems by last Friday.

Coletta said Spada met all terms of the order, including identifying the chemicals in the underground tank.

Coletta said Alan Walker, the engineer overseeing the property, reported that the tank held 4,000 gallons of fuel oil. When workers removed the tank last week, they learned that the soil around it was also contaminated. Coletta said the soil will be stockpiled and removed from the site, like the other contaminated stockpiles found on the property.

Walker also reported to the Department of Environmental Protection that the fence on the property is often knocked down by trucks that move in and out of the site. Coletta said his department is satisfied with Walker's promise to secure the site when the trucks aren't on the property. Walker also told department representatives that he is ''finalizing a plan to put up a chain-link fence around both parcels" once most of the cleanup work is completed.

Coletta said the site is in compliance for now, but that Spada must send a full report, including clean soil readings and proper disposal methods, before he can begin construction on the property.