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EPA to Hold First Public Meeting to Discuss Status of Williston's Commerce Street Plume

Release Date: 01/05/2006
Contact Information: David Deegan, 617-918-1017

(Boston, 01/05/06) - On Wed. Jan 11, EPA will host a public information meeting to discuss the current status and future clean-up activities at the Commerce Street Plume Superfund site, located in Williston Vt. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the Williston Town Hall .

The Williston site, located within an industrial park on Commerce Street, was the home of various manufacturing and electroplating operations since the 1960's. A former property owner, Mitec Systems Corp., discharged undetermined quantities of plating rinse-water and sludge wastes which contained heavy metals and solvents into an unlined lagoon and septic leach field.

The Commerce Street Plume site was added to the Superfund "National Priorities List" (NPL) in April of 2005. The NPL is EPA's list of the of the country's most serious hazardous waste sites identified for possible long- term cleanup and environmental remediation. Whenever possible, the person or organization responsible for the pollution pays for clean up work. The Superfund program makes public funds available to clean up listed toxic waste sites when private financing is unavailable.

In 1985, after sampling by the Vermont Department of Health, elevated concentrations of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals were detected in monitoring wells located throughout the industrial park and surrounding residential area. Six private drinking wells were taken out of service after they were found to be heavily contaminated. Area residents were provided with an alternate water supply in 1985.

Recent EPA and Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation investigations have further delineated the extent of groundwater, soil and surface water contamination beyond the one-acre former Mitec property.

More information is available at: https://www.epa.gov/ne/superfund/sites/commercestreet .

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