The US Environmental Protection Agency again will lead an effort to remove hazardous materials from a Concord manufacturing facility that has a long history of contamination.
Contractors hired by the EPA next month will begin removing containers of improperly stored hazardous chemicals from the
"A wastebasket fire that spread could start a chain reaction and cause the release of a chemical we aren't expecting," Willette said. "One could also spill into another and create a fire. This will eliminate that potential."
The Starmet property was designated a Superfund site in 2001 for uranium contamination unrelated to the chemicals now stored at the facility. The Superfund list comprises the country's most serious hazardous-waste sites identified for possible long-term cleanup.
Starmet, previously known as Nuclear Metals Inc., manufactured products for the Army from the 1970s until 1999 using depleted uranium, a radioactive and toxic material. The company also manufactured metal powders for medical applications, photocopiers, and specialty metal products such as beryllium tubing used in the aerospace industry. Until 1985, waste products were dumped into unlined, in-ground holding basins on the property.
Contaminated soil has been removed, and in 2005 efforts were begun to remove more than 3,000 drums of uranium and other materials from within the facility. That cleanup ended last year.
Willette said that until recently, local, state, and federal officials had been focused on the uranium cleanup efforts. Now, however, they are turning their attention to other hazards at the site.
Starmet, as well as two other affiliated companies specializing in metal operations, still do business on the site, employing between 40 and 50 people. But several of the buildings on the campus are vacant and littered with chemicals.
"Having a fire in that building would be a bad situation for the town of Concord and anyone working there," Willette said.
Residents in the area say they also are eager for the cleanup to begin. The 46-acre property is in an industrial area but is near condominiums, the Thoreau Club, and two separate parcels that have been targeted for more than 500 units of housing.
Jim West, a member of Citizens Research and Environmental Watch, a watchdog group that has been working since 1989 for a cleanup of the Starmet property, praised the EPA for taking action.
"It's part of the ongoing program to get everything out of there that can be dangerous," West said.
