Conservation Committee Approves DCAM's Notice of Intent for State Hospital Cleanup

After more than two months of discussions and delays, Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) representative John O'Donnell and others involved in the cleanup of the site had to wait until Monday’s Conservation Committee meeting for work to continue.

ConCom approved, by split vote, DCAM’s Notice of Intent for the proposed emergency temporary remediation work involving oil found in the part of the Charles River that runs through the state hospital site.

DCAM was making progress at the Aug. 8 meeting to get permission to do the work necessary to cap the oil found in the Charles River with a product called Aquablok and to pull back from the river and to cap the adjoining C&D area, according to Selectmen chair Osler Peterson’s blog, despite not having met with Medfield’s State Hospital Environmental Review Committee (SHERC) and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or completed the feasibility study.

ConCom's vote of approval Monday, according to Peterson’s blog, came with a silver lining however, as DCAM acknowledged it cannot perform any of the work until it meets criteria set by DEP, and which work may or may not be the emergency fix and may or may not be the permanent fix.”

The delay at the Aug. 3 meeting came after the Medfield Conservation Committee decided it needed more time to review comments it had received from Comprehensive Environmental Incorporated (CEI), a consulting firm hired to review the plan to clean up the area where the Charles River cuts through the site.

CEI scientist Stephanie Hanson, who is responsible for reviewing the proposal, submitted a report by the Weston and Sampson consulting firm, which is overseeing the site along the river.

Hanson submitted a list of 23 comments for review by the committee as well as Weston and Sampson to help close some loopholes and further ensure the town gets what's best for the land.

During the Aug. 3 meeting, the committee was able to discuss several major areas of contention, including the use of a temporary cap to cover an area where oil has been found to be leaking from.

However, the oil is not a consistent leak, O’Donnell said.

“We only noticed seeping on one occasion,” O'Donnell said. “It's the threat of a release; if it happened once it can happen again.”

The proposal focused on removing asbestos contaminated soil from the riverbank and replacing it in an environmentally friendly way that will allow for natural flow of the river. They divided the project into three areas, with one of those areas being in close proximity to an underground oil line. After the contaminated soil is removed from this area, it will be filled and then sealed with a metal barrier to prevent any possible damage to the line.

The other two areas will be refilled with fill called “riprap” to the high water mark then covered with a natural soil to help create a natural pathway. On top of that soil will be layered with tree and bush cuttings so as to allow them to take root and solidify the river’s bank and prevent erosion.

O'Donnell said the area with the metal barrier is the only permanent solution, although the other two areas of reconstruction are designed as permanent, they allow for future changes if necessary.

Elise Leduc, a member of the Charles River Watershed Association read comments urging a negative vote because the CRWA felt there had been enough surveying and planning in the area.

“The proposed project is based on an incomplete assessment of the existing conditions, the extent of the contamination, and the sources of the contamination,” Leduc read.

Leduc also said the proposal “will not adequately remediate the environmental impacts to the site” and is detrimental to the area.

The committee decided it did not have enough time to review the comments from CEI before the meeting and would like to see a response from Weston and Sampson before approving the project.

Although O'Donnell assured the committee that a response would be ready the morning of Aug. 4, it did not want to vote until after it had seen all parts of the discussion. On Monday, the committee opted not to delay any more and voted to approve DCAM's Notice of Intent, albeit a split vote. 

DCAM will hold a PIP meeting on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. on the second floor of to report on the salvage area cleanup.