[CPEO-IRF] Watertown (MA) GSA property

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety 
PRESS RELEASE   1/9/06

WCES WANTS CHILDREN AND THE ENVIRONMENT PROTECTED

Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety (WCES) urges citizens to
attend the next meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meeting,
where the fate of the "GSA Property" on Greenough Boulevard will be
discussed.  The meeting will take place on January 17 in the Lower
Hearing Room of Town Hall.  It will begin at 7 with a review of
Superfund cleanup activities in the Charles River and then continue with
a presentation on the status of the environmental cleanup at the GSA
site, an area that was once used as a dumping ground for the Manhattan Project.

WCES has been following the cleanup of the Watertown Arsenal since 1987
and participates actively in the RAB, a Pentagon-initiated citizens'
advisory group that works with Army and regulatory officials to give
community input into the environmental restoration of Watertown's former
military sites.  We are pleased that, after a long process, the US Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE) has nearly completed its cleanup of the GSA
site in preparation for turning the property over to the state
Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).  Both WCES and the RAB,
however, have unresolved concerns about the conditions of the transfer.

The Corps of Engineers' studies concluded that this property is
sufficiently free of hazardous waste to make it acceptable for use as
playing fields, but not for areas where young children will play.  WCES
members think this is making too fine a distinction; if children play
soccer, their younger siblings will come to watch the games.  The RAB
asked the Corps to have another look at their Risk Assessment in light
of this apparent contradiction.  The Corps did so and then decided that
since their data showed it was not safe for younger children to play
there, they would prohibit use of the site for playing fields as well.
The property could be used for wetland and passive recreation such as
walking trails.

But we understand that DCR is refusing to accept the GSA property with a
limitation on playing fields and they are not planning to require
further cleanup to make the area safe for young children, either. 
Instead, they are asking the Corps to abide by its original risk
assessment and claiming that the original distinction between younger
and slightly older children is legal under MA laws. It seems that DCR
would prefer to have the property declared safe rather than actually
made safe by demanding further cleanup or accepting the more stringent
use limitation. The USACE is committed to transferring this site by
September 2006 under any terms the state will accept.  

The DCR has been vigorously pursuing public/private partnerships
throughout the Commonwealth.  A nearby private school is interested in
having the use of the GSA property for playing fields.  Is the state so
willing to pursue private funding that it will disregard the wishes of
the host community or the safety of young children?  Please join WCES
members at the RAB meeting on January 17 and let state officials know
that Watertown demands an environment that is clean and safe for all our
citizens and public agencies that put the public first.

WCES is Watertown's voice for peace, the environment and social justice.
 For more information about WCES, go to www.watertowncitizens.org.  For
more information about the GSA site and the January 17 RAB meeting,
write to mail@watertowncitizens.org, or call 617-926-8560.





-- 


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org
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