Extent of contamination worries neighbors

By Patrick Anderson
Staff writer

May 21, 2008 05:45 am

—

MANCHESTER — Six months after a family found heavy metals in the soil at their Pine Street home, neighbors are concerned that the extent of contamination of the property remains unknown.

And they're also worried because there's no schedule yet for the testing and cleanup of the site, which authorities believe to be an area where the town regularly dumped and burned trash in the 1950s.

Last fall David and Julie Gesner moved out of their yellow two-story Colonial at 156 Pine St. after discovering high levels of lead, arsenic, chromium and cadmium in the soil when they investigated local rumors that their property had been the site of a landfill where garbage and debris were routinely burned.

The Gesners notified the state Department of Environmental Protection and last month the agency ordered a cleanup of the site, including testing to determine the extent of contamination. The town, as well as the Gesners and Manchester resident Michael Bresnahan, who sold them the house, were all named as parties potentially responsible for the cleanup.

But since that time, questions have been raised about who will initiate the cleanup. Negotiations among all parties who will ultimately pay for it have begun.

But during that time, no more testing in the area has taken place.

On Monday, Stephen and Victoria Lauber, who live next door to the Gesners' house, asked selectmen what was being done to determine whether their property was also contaminated and if it was safe to continue living there.

"Whoever is responsible, we need to know what the site is contaminated with and we need to know the extent," Stephen Gesner said. "This has been extremely trying for us. We understand the town is moving forward and we want to encourage it to do so."

Responding to the questions, Town Administrator Wayne Melville said the town had hired a state-licensed engineer from the firm Woodard & Curran to address the problem.

But because of the likelihood of a legal battle over who ultimately will pay for the cleanup, Melville said, a total resolution to the environmental issues on the site might take longer than many residents hope.

"Our most immediate concern is regulatory compliance," Melville said. "There is going to be negotiation between the parties about who is primary (responsible party) and we have a strategy to deal with that. There is also going to be litigation about the costs, which will be large."

Melville said he thinks Bresnahan, the owner of an asphalt company who lived on the property for years, should pay for the cleanup.

He said questions about whether state regulations required areas known to be contaminated to be cleaned up before adjacent areas are tested, or whether the entire extent of contamination has to be determined before cleanup starts, were also making the process move slowly.

"This is going to take a while," Melville said.

After discovering the contamination last November, the Gesners asked Bresnahan to buy 156 Pine St. back and, after he refused, sued him, saying he sold the property despite knowing it had been used as a landfill.

Orestes Brown, Bresnahan's lawyer, has maintained that the town, which operated the burn dump, should be responsible for cleaning up the site and making it either livable or sellable for the Gesners.

The town is required to submit its initial plan to the state for the Pine Street cleanup by June 11.

Yesterday, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Joe Ferson said testing to determine the extent of contamination on the site should be included in the town's plan, as well as what actions will be taken to clean up and make the land safe.

Ferson said in areas where heavy metals are present in the ground, people should avoid direct contact with the soil and ingesting anything that comes in contact with it. He said metals are unlikely to become airborne or migrate into the groundwater.

Ana Costa, another Pine Street neighbor of the Gesners, said yesterday that she was hopeful her property would was not affected by the contamination, but wished the town would find out for certain and inform residents.

"They have known since April and have not contacted me," Costa said about the Gesners' property. "It would be nice to know what is happening."

Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.