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EPA AWARDS $50,000 TO LOCAL GROUP TO MONITOR SULLIVAN'S LEDGE CLEANUP

Release Date: 09/04/1997
Contact Information: Michael McGagh, TAG Program Manager, (617) 223-5534 Angela Bonarrigo, EPA Community Relations, (617) 918-1034

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces the award of a $50,000 technical assistance grant to the Citizens Group for Environmental Activities at Sullivan's Ledge (CGEASL) to oversee the cleanup activities at the Sullivan's Ledge Superfund Site in New Bedford, Mass.

The program provides funding to citizen groups to hire independent technical experts -- such as toxicologists, biologists and hydrologists -- to assist them in evaluating investigations and cleanup activities at EPA Superfund sites. The EPA's New England office has awarded 32 grants to citizen groups from Limestone, Maine to Stratford, Conn. since the program was started in 1986.

"Due to the complex nature of Superfund cleanups, it's important for the community to have someone on its side who can pore over, analyze and translate technical documents into plain English.

This grant provides critical resources for CGEASL and the community to remain an informed and active participant in the decisions regarding the Sullivan's Ledge Site," said John P. DeVillars, Regional Administrator of the EPA's New England office.

The Sullivan's Ledge Site consists, in part, of an old granite quarry owned by the City of New Bedford. This portion of the site is comprised of a 12-acre disposal area with four granite quarry pits up to 150 feet deep that were filled with industrial and solid wastes from approximately 1935 through the 1970's. Contamination from the quarry area, primarily by PCBs, has been carried by a nearby stream onto the eastern portion of a golf course owned by the City of New Bedford.

The EPA placed Sullivan's Ledge on its national priority list of hazardous waste sites in 1984, making it eligible for federal funds under the Superfund program.

CGEASL was organized in June, 1997 and is currently focused on identifying an advisor to work with them. For more information or to get involved with CGEASL, send your name, address and telephone number to: CGEASL, P.O. Box 51663, New Bedford, MA 02745 or e-mail: [email protected].