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Groundwater wells supplying many households is contaminated. High incidence of cancers and lower life expectancy. Chemicals from aircraft production, fire drills, inappropriate disposal.

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This page allows users to search active and archived sites in EPA's Superfund Enterprise Management System database.

Clicking on a site's name in search results will enable you to view more information about it. National Priorities List and Superfund Alternative Approach sites have web profiles with extensive detail about EPA's activities. Sites that do not fall under the NPL or SAA have profile pages that provide basic information.

* = For these fields, you can select multiple options by using the Ctrl key while clicking the mouse.

View a list of all NPL and SAA sites

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This page allows users to search active and archived sites in EPA's Superfund Enterprise Management System database. Clicking on a site's name in search results will enable you to view more information about it. National Priorities List and Superfund Alternative Approach sites have web profiles with extensive detail about EPA's activities.

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Guide: This is a map of polluted sites you know. Please list polluted sites one the map and put a brief background of each sites!

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Guide: This is a map of polluted sites you know. Please list polluted sites one the map and put a brief background of each sites!

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Baird & McGuire Chemical, South Street, Holbrook, Massachusetts

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Baird & McGuire Chemical, South Street, Holbrook, Massachusetts

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Baird & McGuire Chemical, South Street, Holbrook, Massachusetts

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Background

The Baird & McGuire facility is located on a 20-acre site in Holbrook and operated as a chemical mixing and batching company from 1912 to 1983. Later activities included mixing, packaging, storing, and distributing various products, including pesticides, disinfectants, soaps, floor waxes, and solvents. Some of the raw materials used at the site were stored in a tank farm and piped to the laboratory or mixing buildings. Other raw materials were stored in drums on site. Waste disposal methods at the site included direct discharge into the soil, a nearby brook, wetlands, and a former gravel pit. Hazardous wastes historically were disposed of in an on-site lagoon and cesspool. Also included on site were two lagoons open to rain and large areas of buried wastes such as cans, debris, lab bottles, and hundreds of bottles of chemicals. The lagoon area has been capped with clay. The on-site buildings were in various states of disrepair and unsecured; early activities conducted by EPA included demolishing all but one of the buildings and the tank farms. The tank farm area was temporarily capped. The site is completely fenced and a groundwater recirculation system was operated to contain the groundwater plume until permanent remedies were implemented. The site is 500 feet west of the Cochato River. The Cochato River had at one time, been diverted into the Richardi Reservoir, a water system serving nearly 90,000 people in the Towns of Holbrook, Randolph, and Braintree. Currently, the Cochato River is not being used as a supply source for the Richardi Reservoir. The South Street well field, part of the municipal water supply for Holbrook, is located within 1,500 feet of the site and was shut down in 1982.

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Background

The Auburn Road Landfill in Londonderry, New Hampshire is a 200-acre site that consists of three disposal areas that cover about 12 acres. The three areas include: the former Londonderry Town Dump, which operated during the 1960s and was used for the disposal of over 1,000 drums of chemical waste; a tire disposal area, where tires and demolition debris and several hundred drums of chemical waste were dumped; and a solid waste landfill, the largest disposal area. The State ordered the landfill closed in 1980 after hazardous wastes were identified in the soil, and toxic organic substances were found in surface water and groundwater. In 1986, EPA determined that contaminated ground water was flowing off-site toward drinking water supply wells at the Whispering Pines Mobile Home Park, and potentially towards other private residential wells in the area. The area surrounding the landfill is residential and commercial, and the 300 homes and 270 mobile homes within a mile radius primarily used groundwater for drinking water until municipal water was supplied in 1987. About 1,000 people live within three miles of the site. Two unnamed streams drain from the site and flow into Cohas Brook, which empties into the Merrimack River. A former seepage lagoon, just northeast of the solid waste landfill, was excavated and disposed of within the solid waste landfill by the town before 1996. Drums of chemical waste were removed from landfills from 1986 to 1988.

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Atlas Tack, Pleasant Street, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

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Atlas Tack, Pleasant Street, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

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Atlas Tack, Pleasant Street, Fairhaven, Massachusetts

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Background
The Atlas Tack Corp. site is located in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. A manufacturing facility operated on site from 1901 to 1985. Process wastes from past facility operations contaminated soil, groundwater and nearby wetlands. Following cleanup, operation and maintenance activities and monitoring are ongoing.

The Atlas Tack Corp. site is located in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. A manufacturing facility operated on site from 1901 to 1985 producing cut and wire, steel nails, and similar items.

From the 1940s until the late 1970s or 1980s, wastes containing cyanide and heavy metals were discharged into an unlined acid-neutralizing lagoon about 200 feet east of the manufacturing building and adjacent to a saltwater tidal marsh in Buzzards Bay Estuary. Process wastes containing acids, metals such as copper and nickel and solvents were discharged into drains in the floor of the main building. Some of these chemicals permeated the floors and timbers of the building and migrated to adjacent soils and groundwater. Other contaminated areas at the site include a filled wetland, a former dump, and other chemical spills.

The site was placed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in February 1990.

On July 21, 2020 the EPA completed the third Five Year Review report for the site.

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FAIRHAVEN - The ghostly remains of the Atlas Tack factory off Pleasant Street continue to haunt town officials who remain locked in a game called "Who wants to tear down a building?"

It's a game where the winner doesn't get any money, but, instead, may have to shell out a lot of cash.

The Atlas Tack factory was built in 1901 and was the world's largest producer of wire tacks, bolts, shoe eyelets, bottle caps, and other small hardware. It was the town's largest employer. It closed in 1985 and was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency's list for Superfund sites in 1990. The cleanup took place between June 2005 and September 2007.

And then the cleanup was done.

Wait. Not so fast.

The gigantic manufacturing building, 80-foot-high smokestack, boiler plant, and the machinery garage were all torn down and hauled off the property. However, the long, rectangular brick office building still stands out front - sort of.

For over three decades, trees, brush and weeds have grown up around its brick skeletal remains and on the inside of its debris-strewn belly exposed by the caved-in roof. The rest of the 13-acre parcel sits quietly, still recovering from being gouged out during the hazardous waste cleanup process.

"The problem for anybody is the cost of knocking it down," said Attorney Thomas Crotty, Fairhaven town counsel, about the remaining building.

The owner of the property is listed as Atlas Tack Corporation in care of Great Northern Industries, with an address of 266 Beacon St. in Boston. The principal is listed as M. Leonard Lewis, who seems to be a bit of a phantom as letters from the EPA to him have gone without a response.

Calls to Great Northern Industries by a Standard-Times reporter were answered by voicemail and weren't returned.

When Atlas Tack was new

On Thursday, May 8, 1902, the "immense new mill of the Atlas Tack Co was dedicated...with a grand ball which was attended by nearly a thousand people," read the article in the Fairhaven Star newspaper. The new factory replaced its predecessor American Tack Company on Fort Street. A grand march was led by George W. Weymouth, president and manager of Atlas Tack. The gala event featured dancing and refreshments. Other rooms were reserved for "card playing, smoking and cloak rooms."

Henry Huttleston Rogers, a Standard Oil millionaire, built the Atlas Tack factory. According to historical accounts, it employed anywhere from 300 to 700 workers over its decades in Fairhaven. The company witnessed several strikes from workers asking for higher wages and a reduction of long workday hours. Workers walked out once because of excessive heat conditions in the building.

In 1963, Atlas Tack ratified a union agreement with Local 899 of the United Auto Workers Union.

A drowning tragedy

The lagoon at the rear of the Atlas Tack property was the scene of a drowning in January 1947 when Robert A. Sylvia, age 10, fell through the ice on the pond. Leo Meekin, a 12-year-old boy with him at the time, tried to rescue Sylvia by crawling out onto the ice and also ended up falling through the ice. James Kennedy, 9, ran to a nearby house and police were summoned. Meekin was rescued. Sylvia was eventually pulled from the water but attempts to revive him were not successful.

Chemicals ended up in the lagoon

According to an EPA report, cyanide and heavy metals were discharged from the 1940s and over the next four decades into the unlined acid-neutralizing lagoon about 200 feet east of the manufacturing building and adjacent to a saltwater tidal marsh in Buzzards Bay Estuary. Process waste containing acids, metals such as copper and nickel and solvents were discharged into drains in the floor of the main building. Some of these chemicals permeated the floors and timbers of the building and migrated to adjacent soils and groundwater. Other contaminated areas at the site included a filled wetland, a former dump, and other chemical spills.

1985: A factory closes, trouble begins

The business had been slowing down since the 1970s and some of the equipment was being sold off. In 1985 the machines went silent, employees went home never to return, and the business closed. Mary Reed was featured in a video documentary by M.L. Baron in 1987 and recounted her days as a clerk at Atlas Tack. Her parents as well as her husband and her brothers all worked there. "They offered me a job for 22-cents an hour," she said. She worked at the factory until 1971 when she retired. "The bad part was, we lost our pension. We lost our medical. And we lost our life insurance when they locked up three years ago. We lost everything," she said in the documentary. She remembered the days of clambakes, holiday parties, outings, fall dances. "It was like a big family," she said.

"It was a great place to work before Mr. (M. Leonard) Lewis and Mr. (Richard) Secor took it over...these fellas took it over and everything went down the drain," Reed said.

A visit from Barney Frank and Edward Kennedy

In May 2004, Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and the head of the federal EPA inspected the Atlas Tack property and to announce an additional $1.8 million toward the estimated $20 million to remove buildings and clean out the hazardous waste of the site.

EPA cleanup: 2005-2007

The site cleanup by the EPA included demolition of the manufacturing and power plant buildings and excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil and sludge beneath the buildings in the commercial area, along with excavation of contaminated soils and debris in the debris and fill areas, and, finally, excavation of marsh soils and creek bed sediments. Cleanup took place between June 2005 and September 2007 removing buildings and some 108,000 tons of contaminated soil, debris and sediment.

A stalemate begins

The Atlas Tack property owner seems to have gone radio silent since a court ordered it to pay fines equal to the fair market value of the property to the town, EPA and DEP, regardless of whether it intends on selling or keeping the land. The town was entitled to as much as $80,000 under this agreement. Atlas Tack was given 30-days to respond to the EPA's requests back in 2019 for an appraisal and decision on keeping the property. Atlas Tack didn't respond at all.

What happens now?

"Now the town can foreclose," said Crotty. However, he said town officials are apprehensive about doing that because it will likely cost more money than the property is worth. The town currently assesses the property at $159,400. And since the EPA has set limits on what can be done with the site, the town doesn't want to be stuck with a lemon. Crotty said the board recently sought an opinion from Attorney Michelle O'Brien, an environmental lawyer with Pierce Atwood, LLP in Boston.

Crotty said the board received the opinion from O'Brien, but would not disclose the details until the board addresses it at a public meeting.

Chairman Robert Espindola said the board will meet on Oct. 12, and he plans to ask that the opinion be discussed in closed session. If it does not meet Open Meeting Law criteria to be discussed privately, he said the board will discuss the matter in open session.

Espindola said he'd like to see the building demolished to remove the eyesore and possible danger to the community.

"I'd like to see it put back on the town's tax rolls," he said regarding his personal preference. "I'd like to see it developed to something useful to the community."
Standard-Times digital producer Linda Roy can be reached at lroy@s-t.com. You can follow her on Twitter at @LindaRoy_SCT. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Standard-Times.

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Curious SouthCoast: The fate of Atlas Tack's remaining building in Fairhaven lingers

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The EPA Superfund cleanup of the site left one building standing and no one wants to pay to demolish it.

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EPA Superfund site, Trinity Road, Raleigh, NC

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EPA Superfund site, Trinity Road, Raleigh, NC

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EPA Superfund site, Trinity Road, Raleigh, NC