| Attleboro Cleanup Project Costs City $2 Million: Former Factory Believed To Be Responsible |
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Attleboro, MA A century-old factory that burned to the ground 18 years ago has had nearby residents concerned about what was left behind. No one really knew what was buried underneath the rubble, the last of which is being taken out this week. But the new mayor, a year and a half ago, followed through on a campaign promise and called the Environmental Protection Agency. The Apco Mossberg factory was once a thriving business, founded by the late world-acclaimed inventor Frank Mossberg, who was from Attleboro. But by the 1980s, all but a handful of employees were left. Then there was a fire of suspicious origin in 1987. The factory was abandoned since then, holding toxic secrets. "Concentrations of metals, contaminated soils were you know, 10 or more times higher than the standards which we would like to see for a site that’s in close proximity to residences," said Scott Sayers, of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. After the fire and some asbestos removal, the site was abandoned until the new mayor got involved. "This was one of the mentions that I had made back a year and a half ago," said Mayor Kevin Dumas. Originally, the cleanup price tag was $500,000. But the EPA found a bigger mess on the property. "Approximately 200-foot by 150-foot, what appeared to be former waste liquid storage pits," said Melanie Morash, of the EPA. "And in addition to that, we also found several isolated areas of buried drums." That brought the total cost of cleanup to nearly $2 million. Neighbors were concerned about what was underground, but also above ground. "All of our data shows that the contamination on site that resulted from the facility has remained on site," said Morash. "Telephone calls probably started over a year ago," said Dumas. "So, when you talk about a time frame of $1.8 million that the EPA gave to us, it's a very short turnaround time for them to actually come in, have the community meetings, meet with us, create that communication tool with everyone and then also start and remove all this in a 9-month time frame." All the government agencies involved said they're going after the current property owner who has had the factory since the 1970s, to recoup the costs of the cleanup. Meanwhile, Dumas said he’d like to see the Department of Public Works facilty, which is in downtown Attleboro, to be built on this site. |
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