Acushnet River Estuary PCB Commission
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
; -. » , u JL.I j - '"''-1 ! ' : • ' Acushnet River Estuary PCB Commission Status Report September 1982 Commonwealth of Massachusetts Edward J. King, Governor ACUSHNET RIVER ESTUARY PCB COMMISSION: STATUS REPORT September 1982 COMMISSION MEMBERS STAFF Secretary John A. Bewick Diane Hoffmann Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Policy Analyst 100 Cambridge Street Executive Office of Environmental Boston, MA 02202 Affairs 100 Cambridge Street Senator William Q. MacLean, Jr. Boston, MA 02202 Massachusetts State Senate Telephone - 727-3260 State House, Room 443 Boston, MA 02133 Representative Roger Goyette House of Representatives State House, Room 489 Boston, MA 02133 Mr. Jim Costakes General Manager Seafood Producers Association 17 Hamilton Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Mr. Umberto "Battle" Cruz Secretary/Treasurer & Executive Officer Teamsters Union Local #59 62 North Water Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Dr. Morton A. Madoff Chairman Departmentof Community Health Tufts School of Medicine 136 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02111 Mayor John A. Markey New Bedford City Hall 133 Williams Street New Bedford, MA 02740 Mr. Charles McKee President Frionor 40 Herman Melville Boulevard New Bedford, MA 02741 Mr. William Potter, Sr. President Fairhaven Marine P.O. Box 188 Fairhaven, MA 02719 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Executive Summary i I. Introduction 1 II. History of Federal, State and Local Efforts to Deal with the Problem 3 III. Existing Data Describing PCB Levels 11 IV. Additional Data Needs 15 V. Cost-Effective Options for Reducing PCB Contamination in the New Bedford Harbor 20 VI. Sediment Removal and Cleanup Options 23 VII. Budget for Management of the PCB Cleanup Program 30 VIII. Potential Funding Sources for Cleanup 30 IX. Guidelines to be Adopted for Closing and Reopening of Areas within the Acushnet River Estuary for Commercial Fishing, Shellfish Harvesting, and other Marine Related Activities 32 X. Necessary Law Enforcement Resources to Control Access to Areas within the Estuary and Buzzards Bay 32 XI. Status of Enforcement Actions Taken by State and Federal Agencies 33 XII. Time Frame for Additional Materials 33 XIII. Recommendations 34 List of Exhibits and Tables Exhibit # 1. New Bedford Harbor Area 4 2. Areas Subject to PCB Closures 5 3. Methods of Managing PCB Contaminated Sediments in the Hudson River 25 Table # 1. Summary of PCB Levels Found in Local Health Studies 16 2. Summary of PCB Levels Among Specific Occupational Groups 17 3. Summary of PCB Levels Among Those Reporting Ever/Never Eating Seafood from the Acushnut River 17 4. Relationship between PCB Levels and Hypertension 18 5. Cost of Dredging Alternatives proposed by Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. 22 List of Appendices I. "PCB Pollution in the New Bedford, Massachusetts Area: A Status Report,' June 1982 II. Local Efforts to Deal with PCB Problem III. EPA Data Retrieval System IV. Coast Guard Study Results V. Background Data on Current Rate, Wind, Velocity, and Tidal Movement in the New Bedford Harbor Area VI. Interagency Task Force Budget for Management of PCB Remedial Action Program VII. "Draft Report: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Acushnet River Estuary PCB Study" by Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., June 1981 VIII. Non-Dredging Alternatives for PCB Management IX. Dredging Technologies X. Description of Lightnin Sludge Monster XI. Scopes of Work for: 1. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc. 2. GCA 3. Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. XII. Description of Wright Malta Corporation Process for PCB Sludge Treatment XIII. Superfund Phase I Funding Allocation Request XIV. Funding Alternatives for Investigating PCB Contamination in New Bedford Harbor XV. New Bedford Harbor Lobster Sampling Program -i- Executive Summary This document is an initial report prepared by the Acushnet River Estuary PCB Commission established by Governor Edward J. King under Executive Order No. 216 on May 5, 1982. This report defines the extent of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) contamination in the Acushnet River Estuary and New Bedford Harbor, the status of efforts being made by federal, state, and local agencies to deal with the problem and includes a series of recommendations made by the Commission to improve and expedite remedial action efforts. PCB contamination of the Acushnet River Estuary was first documented in 1974 by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and confirmed in a 1976 study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Two industrial operations, Aerovox and Cornell-Dubilier, were found to have discharged wastewaters con taining PCBs to the Acushnet River Estuary directly and via the New Bedford municipal sewage treatment plant. Although the direct discharge of PCBs to the Harbor has since been significantly curtailed, in certain areas the con centration of PCBs in harbor sediment is extremely high due to the chemical sta bility and persistence of PCBs. The presence of PCBs in the environment raises major public health and eco nomic concerns. Contamination of the Acushnet River Estuary and the Harbor area has resulted in the accumulation of PCBs in many edible marine species. To pro tect the public from the health effects associated with the consumption of con taminated fish, on September 25, 1979, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health promulgated emergency regulations prohibiting the harvesting of shellfish, finfish, and lobsters in portions of the Acushnuet River, New Bedford Harbor and certain areas of Buzzards Bay. This necessary action to protect public health has resulted in severe finan cial losses to the lobster and fishing industries, has severely curtailed recreational fishing and has delayed necessary transportation and harbor related development in the New Bedford area. Federal, state, and local agencies have all made significant efforts towards gathering information and data about the extent of the contamination and have taken initial steps toward its management. Most significant among these efforts was the successful attempt in July of 1982 to include the site on the Federal "Superfund" list. The Superfund Program, created by Congress in 1980, authorizes federal funding for cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites and chemical spills which threaten public health or the environment. As part of the Superfund process EPA in concert with a Technical Task Force appointed by Secretary of Environmental Affairs, John Bewick, is preparing a Remedial Action Master Plan (RAMP) which will serve as the basic planning docu ment for site management and control. The preparation of this plan will greatly facilitate efforts to coordinate on-going activities to deal with the PCB problem in the Acushnet River Estuary. To date, two preliminary health studies have been conducted in the New Bedford area. Although results indicate that persons eating fish from the Acushnet River and occupationally exposed persons have elevated PCB levels in their blood serum, analysis of the data have failed to reveal any significant correlation between elevated PCB blood serum levels and other health problems. -ii- Although much data has been collected on the levels of contamination in the Harbor, EPA and an inter-agency task force of state agencies have identified several areas where additional data is needed before a course of action can be determined. Generally, the required data include: 1) a precise delineation of PCB sediment concentrations in the New Bedford area profiled with depth; 2) an elucidation of the physical transport of PCBs in the Harbor and out to Buzzards Bay, and; 3) data on bio-accumulation of PCBs by shellfish and finfish from both sediments and the water column. In addition, the Department of Public Health feels that additional health stu dies are needed. It appears that plans presently exist for the collection of necessary data. Funding constraints, however, have delayed, and may continue to delay, some data gathering efforts. In a report prepared for the Department of Environmental Quality Engineering, Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. estimated that cleanup costs may range from $30 to $130 million depending on the extent of remedial action taken. Although this is only a preliminary estimate, cleanup costs will be substantial and pro bably will not be completely covered by Superfund monies. As a result other funding sources are being pursued. Before any cleanup can take place a feasibi lity study including an assessment of costs and benefits of various options under consideration must be carried out. The Commission is convinced that the continuing presence of PCBs in the waters and sediments of the Acushnet River Estuary and New Bedford Harbor pose a potential threat to the health of area residents, to the economic well being of a major sector of the area's economy, and to the continued necessary economic development of this area. It is essential therefore that data gathering proceed quickly so that remedial action may be taken as soon as possible. In order to expedite the process and ensure that the health and economic well being of the citizens of New Bedford are protected the Commission recommends that: 1) The $1,033,000 required to conduct the necessary epidemiological and blood studies recommended by the Department of Public Health be obtained immediately from EPA/Superfund; 2) the Massachusetts legislature pass the proposed legislation to establish a $25 million Massachusetts Superfund to cover any remedial action not covered by Superfund or other Federal funds; 3) all data gathering efforts necessary to initiate dredging for Fairhaven Bridge and other development projects be given top priority