Nyanza cleanup effort in Ashland has received another round of federal funding
ASHLAND — The Nyanza chemical waste dump off Megunko Road is among 22 Superfund sites throughout the country for which the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced a second round of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for new cleanup projects.
The total amount awarded is approximately $1 billion, EPA officials said in a press release. It's unclear how much is being directed to the Nyanza site.
In the press release, the EPA said it will conduct additional groundwater cleanup on the Nyanza site, a 35-acre area next to an active industrial complex that's been on the EPA's National Priority List for 40 years. Work will include additional pumping out of groundwater contaminants and treatment of volatile organic compound contamination in shallow bedrock zones near the site in order to “further address and mitigate downgradient groundwater exposure and vapor intrusion risks.”
The area has been undergoing remediation since it was designated as a Superfund site in late 1982. It's named after the last company — Nyanza Color and Chemical Co. — to produce textile dyes and other products there, though production lasted from 1917 to 1978.
In 2020, the EPA unveiled a plan to tackle a contaminated groundwater plume at Nyacol Nano Technologies on Megunko Road and Worcester Air Conditioning on Pleasant Street, both of which continue to operate within the Superfund site.
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The plan, with an estimated cost of $20.5 million, according to the EPA decision, planned to add more extraction wells to pump out chemicals that cause contamination. The plan also entailed injecting a chemical oxidizer directly into the contaminated groundwater to destroy or reduce the concentration of contaminants, according to the decision.
Previously, the site gained attention when the state Department of Public Health found a cancer cluster stemming from the contaminated site.
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In 2007, the EPA installed 43 vapor mitigation systems in and around downtown Ashland. In 2013, two wells to pump contamination from the groundwater and to decrease contamination concentrations. The new funding will expand if more contamination sources are found. And in 2019, a solar panel array was installed at the former waste dump site on Megunko Road.
Currently, the EPA has land use restrictions on the construction of groundwater wells on the contamination plume and has installed signs advising against the consumption of fish from the Sudbury River due to high levels of mercury.
Superfund sites are those covered under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, which sets up a “Superfund” to clean up contaminated sites.
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The federal funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed by President Joe Biden. Besides Nyanza, Massachusetts sites that will be funded for new projects include the former Creese and Cook Tannery in Danvers and the Walton & Lonsbury Inc. site in Attleboro.
“This Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding targets the much-needed clean-up of legacy pollution that's harmful to our health and the environment," said EPA New England Regional Administrator David Cash, in a statement. “We look forward to the startup and completion of this important work."
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Nyanza Superfund site in Ashland receives new round of funding
