EPA Hosts Public Hearing on Nyanza Superfund Site Thursday

Public is invited to an informational meeting on the EPA's plans for capping a portion of Framingham's Reservoir No. 2 of the Nyanza Chemical Superfund Site Thursday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Building.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plan involves laying down a sand cap in the most contaminated reservoir, the No. 2 in Framingham,, of which the project could take years to complete and impact Fountain Street traffic and the Keefe Tech area neighborhood.

Selectman Ginger Esty expressed her objection to the project at Tuesday night's selectmen's meeting.

The Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump site is a 35-acre parcel of land located adjacent to an active industrial complex. From 1917 to 1978, the site was used to produce textile dyes, intermediates, and other products. Nyanza Inc. operated on this site from 1965 until 1978, when it ceased operations. Large volumes of industrial wastewater containing high levels of acids and numerous organic and inorganic chemicals, including mercury, were generated by these companies. 

Due to varying site conditions and levels of contaminants, the Superfund project  includes portions of the Sudbury River that were contaminated as a result of the former Nyanza, Inc. textile dye facility, and includes 26 downstream miles from the Nyanza facility to the river's confluence with the Assabet River, passing through the Towns of Ashland, Framingham, Sudbury, Wayland, Lincoln and Concord.

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