BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced that $80,000 in grants have been awarded to three municipalities and one community group as part of the Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program. The TAG Program, administered by Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), provides funding to enhance citizen participation in assessment and cleanup activities at waste disposal sites in their communities. Awards may be used to obtain expert assistance, increase public participation, and provide public education.
“We are pleased to offer this program to assist citizens in understanding the complex information on which site cleanup decisions are based and promote more informed citizen involvement in planning for site cleanups,” said Energy and Environment Affairs Secretary Beth Card. “The grants will give local communities a voice in how these sites are assessed and eventually remediated.”
“MassDEP established the TAG Program to encourage public participation,” said MassDEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg. “Our grant recipients are working on projects that inform municipal and residential groups more effectively, promote greater awareness and increase public engagement in the assessment and cleanup activities at disposal sites in their communities.”
The grant recipients are:
Town of Hanson – Up to $20,000
Hanson will use its award to obtain technical expertise to review and summarize recent reports for the local community. The National Fireworks disposal site comprises 240 acres of commercial and residential property in Hanover and Hanson and is the former site of a fireworks and pyrotechnics manufacturer. Contaminants of concern include metals, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds in in surface water, soil, and sediment. In addition, Munitions and Explosives of Concern and Material Potentially Presenting an Explosive Hazard were identified in two areas in the southern portion of the disposal site.
Town Concord – Up to $20,000
Concord will use its award to engage technical expertise to evaluate and interpret environmental data and reports to encourage better public participation in the cleanup and reuse of a former depleted uranium and specialty metal products facility. The Nuclear Metals Superfund Site in Concord is a 46-acre disposal site is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Priorities List. Contaminants of concern include poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, uranium, polychlorinated biphenyls, volatile organic compounds, and semi-volatile organic compounds that have impacted soil and groundwater.
Lunt Neighborhood Action Group – Up to $20,000
Lunt Neighborhood Action Group will use its award to engage technical expertise to evaluate and interpret existing information about the Former Lunt Silversmith Site in Greenfield to encourage better public participation in the ongoing cleanup. The disposal site is a former metal manufacturing facility and contaminants of concern include chlorinated volatile organic compounds that have been detected in soil, groundwater, and indoor air.
Town of Burlington – Up to $20,000
Burlington will use its award to engage technical expertise to interpret and summarize existing information available on two disposal sites located in the town: One site, at 179 Cambridge Street in Burlington, is the location of a former dry cleaner where perchloroethylene (PCE) has been detected in soil, groundwater, and indoor air. The second site, at 18 Terry Avenue in Burlington, is impacted by trichloroethene (TCE) that has been detected in soil, groundwater, and indoor air.
“Thank you to Governor Baker, Lieutenant Governor Polito and Commissioner Suuberg for giving us the funding to involve the public in the cleanup of the National Fireworks disposal site that has been a major constituent concern for many years,” said State Senator Michael D. Brady (D-Brockton).
“The Town of Hanson has been committed to ensuring that the National Fireworks disposal site is remediated in an effective and transparent manner,” said State Representative Josh S. Cutler (D-Duxbury). “This grant will help to facilitate this goal by ensuring that Hanson has the necessary technical expertise at their disposal, while furthering Hanson’s goal of providing community members with critical information and updates about the clean-up process.”
For more information on the TAG Program, please click here.
MassDEP’s mission is to protect and enhance the Commonwealth’s natural resources – air, water and land – to provide for the health, safety and welfare of all people, and a clean and safe environment for future generations. In carrying out this mission, MassDEP commits to address and advance environmental justice and equity for all people of the Commonwealth, provide meaningful, inclusive opportunities for people to participate in agency decisions that affect their lives and ensure a diverse workforce that reflects the communities served by the agency.
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