Above: A long ago decision to put off cleaning up an old farm dump on Town owned Conservation Land increased the costs that taxpayers now have to shoulder. (image cropped from Conservation Commission meeting video)
Last year, Town Meeting voters approved borrowing and spending up to $2.2M to cleanup an old farm dump on Breakneck Hill Conservation Land. On Monday, voters will be asked to add on another over $2.13M for a project that is turning out to cost about double what had been estimated.
In public meetings, Conservation Agent Melissa Danza explained that the increased cost is based on the discovery of small “friable” pieces of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACMs) that can’t be filtered out.* (Based on internet search results, that means the material crumbles easily.) These hadn’t been” prevalent” in the test pits that were used for the study the initial estimate was based on.
The initial estimate was calculated for disposing of generic solid waste filtered from the soil. Now, they need to not only dispose of more waste, but classify it as ACMs.
The disposal cost for ACMs is estimated at an outside cost of about $323 per ton with the possibility of up to 10,000 tons. (Danza does hope they can keep the figure lower.)**
At a joint meeting of the Select Board and the Advisory Committee in August, officials urged more research and outreach into possible alternative funding sources for the cleanup. Danza said that she had looked but would try again. That effort was unsuccessful.
Danza updated the Conservation Commission on September 12th, explaining that the site isn’t hazardous enough to qualify for cleanup grants. The Town also heard back from state reps that they weren’t aware of any applicable grants or alternative funding sources.
The Conservation Agent noted that the cleanup of solid waste with asbestos. doesn’t qualify for common grants like ones offered for climate resiliency or watershed protection. (In the August meeting, Town Administrator Mark Purple pointed out that the fact that the Town had purchased the problematic site in the middle of the woods added to the challenge for finding cleanup funding. It’s not a redevelopment site.)
In answering questions from the Select Board, Danza had stated that MassDEP (Dept of Environmental Protection) is fine with the process and revised timeline the Town is following, since they continue to make progress and keep the agency informed. (The Consent Order the Town entered had required cleanup be completed earlier this month.) However, lack of funding wouldn’t give the Town leeway to violate the order.
If the Article doesn’t get approved by Town Meeting and work stops, DEP can begin assessing fines. They can also take over doing the cleanup and withhold funds disbursed through the state or take other actions to get reimbursed.
Danza also confirmed that the cost isn’t covered by insurance. And the ability of the Town to go after the prior owner had already “passed” when the Town looked into that in 2008. (The farmer Raymond Davis had died in 2005.)
Danza will make the presentation to Town Meeting voters for the funding request. Conservation Chair Ben Smith told Danza that he felt she’s been in the hot seat. As the project manager, she’s had to justify the expense of the cleanup. He praised:
clearly the reason why this only costs as much as it does is because of the incredible amount of work that you put into trying to keep costs down — working with the consultant, and the contractor, and all the work that you put into it.
He followed that the Town government had known about the farm dump since it purchased the property way back. The only way to have saved money would have been to not have kicked it down the road.*** And he found it “troubling” that there had been a “movement afoot” to try to say no to MassDEP about doing the cleanup work. “This kind of work only gets more expensive as time goes by.”
Danza responded that the ultimate price tag of $4.4M was one that she believed surprised even their consultants and engineers. She highlighted one reason pushing off the work increases the cost – “not a lot of people want to take [asbestos] anymore” making it harder to find facilities that will.
In August, Danza told Advisory and the Select Board that she also investigated the cost for capping the site instead of cleaning it up. Given the requirements for handling it, the cost would actually be the same. And capping would come with additional burdens – property restrictions and monitoring requirements.
The Select Board unanimously supported the Article. The Advisory Committee has yet to vote on it.
On the 12th, Danza projected that it should only take about 25 business days to complete the work once they begin excavation.
The work had been paused to approve amending the Order of Conditions for the cleanup. The change approved on September 12th was revise the access road path for where the contractor can enter the forest for the cleanup work. Danza noted that it was a change that the Stewardship Committee was happy with since the area of trees newly targeted for clearing include invasive plants. The access work was slated to start this week or next (using the previously approved funds).
Final restoration of the land that has been disturbed for the access and cleanup work is scheduled for next year. But the contractor is aware that some temporary restoration needs to take place during this “growing season”.
*In answer to questions, Danza explained that the asbestos appeared to come from asphalt roof shingles from old sheds, cement board, and other “random trash” disposed of by the previous owner of the old farm.
**According to Danza, the contractor has estimated 5,000 tons are left to be dug up. But the engineer recommended planning for double given the variable but average depth throughout the rest of the project area.) They have also been trying to find the best cost per tonnage and may be able to get one at $277 per ton, but that couldn’t be guaranteed. MassDEP confirmed that the costs seem to be in line with other similar project costs.
***The Town has actually owned the property for 44 years. The former owner, Ray Davis, continued to use the property until he retired in 2001. But based on redacted Conservation Commission minutes from a closed Executive Session in December 2005, Conservations’ concerns about the site date back to at least 1988. In 2005, the Commission quietly looked into issues that had been raised again. It wasn’t until member Carl Guyer (who has since stepped down) took steps to publicly push Town officials, alert the public, and contact MassDEP about the issue that the Town took action to clean it up. (You can read more on the property history on the Town website here.)
