All News Releases By Date

EPA Formally Proposes Sutton Brook Disposal Area to Superfund List

Release Date: 07/27/2000
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the Sutton Brook Disposal Area in Tewskbury, Mass., to EPA's National Priorities List (NPL). The site, located off of South Street , was formerly known Rocco's Landfill.

The NPL, also known as the Superfund List, is EPA's list of the country's most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for possible long-term cleanup. The Superfund program makes public funds available to clean up listed toxic waste sites when private financing is unavailable.

"Even while the listing process is underway, EPA has begun taking steps to address contamination at the site to ensure the health and safety of residents in the community," said Mindy S. Lubber, Regional Administrator for EPA New England. "EPA's removal program began work in early July to pull buried drums and containers from the ground and to remove contaminated soil from the site."

The landfill operations began in the early 1950's, and although the landfill was ordered closed by the Town of Tewksbury Board of Health in 1979, waste disposal continued into the 1980s. The proposed listing includes the parcel of about 100 acres on which the landfill and an adjacent drum disposal area are located. During it's operations, the landfill accepted municipal, commercial and industrial wastes. Buried drums and associated soil contaminated with volatile organic and semi-volatile organic compounds are a source of continuing contamination to the area.

Proposing the site to the NPL opens a 60-day comment period, during which time the public can comment on the listing. Comments must be submitted in writing by Sept. 25 to:

Docket Coordinator, Headquarters
U.S. EPA
CERCLA Docket Office
Mailcode 5201 G
Ariel Rios Building, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20460

Copies of the listing documents are available for public review at the following locations:

EPA Records Center
1 Congress St., Suite 1100
Boston MA 02114
Hours: M - F 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Tom Carbone
Director of Public Health
999 Whipple Road
Tewksbury, MA 01876
(978) 640-4470

Dick Chalpin
Mass. Department of Environmental Protection
205 A Lowell St.
Wilmington, MA 01887
Phone: (978) 661-7701