Ashland Superfund Site/Toxic Waste Dump? (Hopkinton: house, buyer, to live)

[pearlygrl9]

OK - Who can give me info on this? We're looking at a house in Hopkinton, right on the Ashland line, not far from the site. From the research I've been doing, it seems that this is mostly cleaned up. It also seems that the danger areas are/were in the opposite direction of Hopkinton.

[scarletfire]

Cleaning up the contaminated site is still not complete. Google Nyanza + Ashland + Superfund and you'll likely find the health report and associated news stories. I don't know why anyone knowingly would choose to live near there, even if there's a chance of a risk.

[pearlygrl9]

Thanks, I've been researching online for the past couple of hours. It looks as if the groundwater flows East/Northeast from the site, away from Hopkinton. From reading all of the info, I'm fairly confident that this isn't much of an issue...wouldn't mind some more input though!

[CaseyB]

Do a search on this (Mass.) forum. It's been discussed here a few times.

[Braunwyn]

Gosh, I didn't know about this and have been considering Ashland for my home search. Thanks!

[scarletfire]

Braunwyn, didn't your buyer's agent tell you this?? Horrible not to share this information when it could impact your health!!

[pearlygrl9]

Originally Posted by Braunwyn

Gosh, I didn't know about this and have been considering Ashland for my home search. Thanks!

Definitely do a google search. There is a lot of stuff on the EPA site and I definitely wouldn't buy a house in Ashland down stream or down gradient from the site. Though it looks like there continues to be a major clean-up effort, it's definitely not finished yet. From what I've read, I wouldn't hesitate to buy upstream/upgradient from the groundwater flow direction.

[scarletfire]

There is still a huge plume of contamination underground in the town that is unlikely to be remediated. Nyanza has long ago closed and while the EPA made some efforts at cleanup, it seems much remains unresolved. Not to mention the fact that a lot of the time the EPA's idea of "remediation" is capping a toxic waste site. That basically means covering with something just a bit better than a tarp. Out of sight, out of mind apparently. And even a year or so ago officials found some kind of fumes were seeping into peoples' basements from the ground & installed something like radon remediation systems to somehow deal with this. Who knows if that really fixes the problem or if they even tested homes besides those of people who complained. I grew up in Ashland and I know people who lived near the site who died very young. Sadly we will likely never know the extend of the damage caused to residents' health.

[pearlygrl9]

I know the information can sound very scary - but don't be afraid to do your research to decide for yourself! From what I've been reading - and I've dug up a lot online - there is a solid plan in place to clean-up the rest of the contaminated groundwater.