T power plant is cleaned up after long delay

After nearly a decade of delays and lawsuits, the cleanup of the contaminated South Boston MBTA power plant site on East First Street is finally complete, according to T officials.

The site, which was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos and lead-glazed bricks, was a longtime blight on the neighborhood, residents say.

Now, with plans to turn the site over to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for a possible park, neighbors still have questions about local air quality. ''But anything has to be better than what was there," said Frances Devlin, 65, an East Third Street resident long involved in monitoring the cleanup project.

Neighbors took an active role in the process in its early stages. But after many delays and changes in the project, including concerns over the use of soil contaminated with lead as fill on the 10-acre site, neighborhood residents reduced their involvement.

''I just wish we could talk and communicate better and have an honest dialogue," Devlin said. ''But we have to move forward. We have to get this thing cleaned up. Hopefully, the community is the one that will gain from this."

The T agreed in 1999 to remove asbestos from the former South Boston power plant by April 2000 and demolish the building. When the T missed the deadline, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly filed a complaint alleging contempt of court. Reilly later negotiated a new court order that required the T to complete asbestos work in August 2001, a deadline the T again missed when the contractor ran into financial troubles.

The building was demolished and left sitting for at least a year when inspectors determined that some of the bricks had glazing that contained lead. Those bricks had to be disposed of separately. In addition, the plant had huge water pipes that had to be sealed.

''We're extremely satisfied," said state Senator Jack Hart, Democrat of South Boston, who pushed for the cleanup to be completed. ''We're satisfied as a neighborhood to have an eyesore like the MBTA power plant come down, but just as importantly to have the site cleaned up."

The property was given to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for use as a park, though Hart said neighbors will have the final say.

''The demolition and cleanup of this 10-acre site is now free for future use," said MBTA general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas, ''and we want to thank the community for its forbearance."

Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com.