Town of Walpole's Award-Winning Superfund Assessment, Remediation & Redevelopment Project

The Union and Blackburn Privileges EPA Superfund Site is located in a dense residential neighborhood in a suburb of Boston.  Industrial activity at the site commenced in the late 1600s, and the majority of the property has been abandoned since the early 1990s. Compounds of concern include asbestos, volatile organic compounds, metals (chromium & arsenic), solvents, caustic agents, and historic urban fill.

We worked with the Town of Walpole Board of Selectmen and Economic Development and Industrial Commission to make technical presentations on the environmental condition, redevelopment planning, and potential acquisition of land for municipal use at the site. We worked with the Health Department, developing and giving presentations and moderating technical workshops to provide an in-depth understanding of site characteristics, environmental issues, and long-term liability concerns. Project scope included presentation at a Town Meeting, during which the town voted to make the property acquisition, transitioning the property from more than 30 years of blight to the location of new Police Station and Council on Aging buildings.  

Wilcox & Barton, Inc. had a lead role in the development of a soil management plan to facilitate building demolition, earthwork, and construction.  We worked with the Town, the EPA, MassDEP, Architect, Owner’s Project Manager, and full construction team to ensure environmental health and safety programs were in place and implemented.  Dust monitoring during earthwork included the use of solar powered perimeter monitor stations with cellular telemetry, allowing full time (24/7) air monitoring to ensure site conditions met regulatory requirements. 

Demolition of the former mill structures commenced in July 2015, and soil remediation, and site capping was completed in 2016 and 2017.  Construction of the new Police Station on the property was completed in April 2018 with the Council on Aging facility scheduled to open in Spring 2019.