All News Releases By Date

EPA to Conduct Another Round of Residential Well Sampling at the Shpack Landfill Site in Norton, Mass.

Release Date: 08/21/2003
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1014

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will conduct another round of residential well sampling at the Shpack Landfill site in Norton, Mass., beginning Tuesday August 26. This round of sampling is being undertaken at the request of the Town of Norton.

In July, EPA received data showing that four residential wells within a one-mile radius of the site exceeded federal primary maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). Subsequent re-sampling of the four wells showed that all but one met the federal drinking water standards. However, EPA does not believe that the contamination in this one well is related to the Shpack site.

At the request of the Town of Norton, this next round of sampling will take another look at all 12 properties. EPA expects the results from this upcoming round of sampling to be validated by mid- September.

EPA initiated residential well water sampling near the Shpack Site in the late 1980's. Since 2000, the testing has been conducted on an annual basis by ERM-New England on behalf of a group of potentially responsible parties.

The Shpack Landfill Site is an eight-acre abandoned municipal and industrial landfill that operated from 1946 to 1965. The site consists of land formerly owned by Lea and Isadore Shpack, now owned by the town of Norton, and land formerly owned by Albert Dumont, now owned by Attleboro Landfill Inc. Approximately five and a half acres are on the Norton side of the town line and two and a half acres are on the Attleboro side.