350 Irving Street - facts you need to know about the property

Opinions by Howard Garshman

     1. The 20-acre site at 300-350 Irving Street is highly contaminated with COAL TAR. It is an extraordinarily ultra hazardous carcinogen.
     2. In 2008, Northeast Utilities purchased the property. The company promised the Town of Framingham, as a condition of the purchase, to clean up, remediate, and develop the entire property by 2010. They have not done what they agreed to do.!

     3. To date, Northeast Utilities only mitigated a TEMPORARILY SOLUTION at a 2 acre site of wetlands for CYANIDE.
     4. The upcoming MA DEP AUDIT is only to address that TEMPORARY SOLUTION FOR MITIGATING THE 2 ACRES OF WET LANDS IS A RANDOM AUDIT, PRIOR THE MASS DEP HASN’T ADDRESSED THE PROPERTY FOR 10 YEARS.
     5. The 20 acre property is contaminated in the ground water, surface water and soil with COAL TAR. COAL TAR CREOSOTE is both a man made carcinogenic materials as well as high concentration of Arsenic and Cyanide. There are areas where the COAL TAR bubbles up through the ground.
     6. Landscape Depot, Inc. brings on to the property demolition materials, wood debris, and grass clippings from industrial, commercial, and residential properties. Dirt that is untested and has non-organic items mixed in with it such as plastic, china, glass, wood.
     7. Landscape Depot, Inc allows all these materials to fester upon and soak up the contaminates on the property.
     8. Landscape Depot, Inc mixes all these materials, grinds them, composts them on the toxic property and sells these products as Kids Safe Mulch, Pure Mulch and Organic Compost. NONE OF THESE IS TRUE, all is contaminated.
     9. The businesses at Landscape Depot Inc are not licensed, permitted or zoned for this use. The business has allowed these operations to continue to do so for 14 years. 
     10. Northeast Utilities is 100% aware of what Landscape Depot, Inc is doing and selling and has been aware for 6 years and also is aware Landscape Depot Inc is in violation and poisoning the public.

   

Although I have associates involved with me, I have filed a Civil Suit and do not need nor do I seek anyone’s assistance.

We are not going to champion the cause. Our sole goal is to make sure the 1000’s of people affected know the truth, have access to the evidence and do as they feel appropriate. WE WILL BACK UP ALL EVIDENCE AND STATEMENTS.

BOTTOM LINE: Together, Northeast Utilities and Landscape Depot, Inc are running illegal, poisonous and humanly toxic business on a highly toxic and carcinogenic 20-acre site in Framingham, jointly poising children, men, and women . They have been misled and lied to Framingham while knowing exactly what they were doing… SAVING THEIR SHAREHOLDERS 100’s of millions of dollars in clean up costs and correcting the harm to 1000’s of unsuspecting humans.

IF ANYONE THINKS THIS ISN’T TRUE; WE HAVE ALL THE HARD IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE , WE WILL SHARE AND SUPPORT THIS EVIDENCE

I WILL WALK BAREFOOT AROUND THE PROPERTY ON WET MUDDY DAY, WITH ANY ONE THAT THINKS THE PROPERTY IS SAFE, WE CAN BOIL SOME GROUND WATER AND HAVE A CUP OF TEA. I have been exposed. I’ve been harmed.

                                                               Howard Garshman – hgarshman@earthlink.ne

http://framinghammatters.blogspot.com/2014/10/300-350-irving-street-continuing.html

300-350 Irving Street: a continuing contaminated site. Is everyone looking the other way?

Information provided by Howard Garshman


Background:

From 1880-1967, Northeast Utilities operated a Manufactured Gas Plant on the Irving Street Property.

From 1967–1982, the plant apparently was demolished and the property was mostly paved to resemble a parking lot.

In 1982, a private individual, Mr. John Glynn (deceased), purchased the property for a symbolic $1,000.00 at which time he deeded the parcel to the 350 Irving Street Trust.

In 2004, having not paid the taxes on the property and accumulating nearly $2M in arrears on the property, the Town of Framingham publicly avowed the property was hazardous and not a property the town wanted to own for taxes, began negotiations with 350 Irving Street, LLC a company formed by the owner of the major tenant on the property. These negotiations were for 350 Irving Street, LLC to obtain the property via a tax abatement scheme in return to remediate the property under a Brownfields Authority.   

"300 Irving Street" an almost 19 acre parcel owned by Northeast Utilities (NStar).
Yellow line indicates the MWRA Sudbury Aqueduct dividing the property.

In 2007 after 3 years of negotiating with the town and after garnering the approval of the scheme by the town, the town fathers, only moments before signing the papers, Northeast Utilities for yet unknown reasons, came forward and offered to purchase the property they had sold 26 years earlier for $1,000.00 , Northeast Utilities offered The Town of Framingham a cash payment of $2M as part of the offer Northeast Utilities agreed to appease 350 Irving Street, LLC by partnering with 350 Irving Street, LLC to manage the property, then develop the property once Northeast Utilities remediated the property, at Northeast’s expense hopefully by 2010.

Aerial view of Landscape Depot (from Google Maps 2007)

Stone and debris in work area on top of MWRA Aqueduct land. The runoff from the upper undocumented
materials, mulch and salt chemicals drain from on top of the property runs through the
covered materials and leaches into the ground and MWRA wet property.

The town accepted Northeast’s proposal as presented, subject to approval by the Attorney General’s approval, according to town records the town did so based on their ability to oversee the remediation, the increase of debt returned to town coffers and Northeast agreeing to appease 350 Irving Street, LLC by making 350 Irving Street, LLC the manager and a partners in the future development.
In 2008, the approvals were obtained and Northeast Utilities paid the $2M in August 2008, as of this summary the property is in use, yet neither the Brownfields remediation or the development have taken place.

At this time, the extraordinarily hazardous property is in use daily by various tenants, one tenant in particular is operating numerous unpermitted, unlicensed unmonitored operations that are causing hazmat releases, adding hazmat to the property as well 247 River Road West, Berlin, poising the unsuspecting public. All with knowledge and approval of Northeast Utilities.

Landscape Depot is a tenant of Northeast Utilities. The landscape company is operating without oversight, licensing, permits or any required authority from numerous Framingham departments. There are no approvals, required permits or licenses from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and other state departments.

The mountainous mulch piles on the property tend to ignite and smolder, sometimes for days, causing smoke to cover the surrounding area. This smoke is unmonitored for air quality and toxins, our understanding is that many of the toxins found on the property and in the wood and demolitions debris should be detectable in the smoke, smoke that residents are breathing.

Upper right near loading dock are concrete, stone pavement bricks dumped for recycling.

Prior to 1967, Northeast Utilities hired private contractors to remove the extraordinarily hazardous (EPA) Coal Tar, Coal Tar Creosote, Cyanide and Arsenic from the Manufactured Gas Plant furnaces and bury it off site in the Framingham area. One very close site is on 21 Beaver Court and Beaver Street, which abuts the now closed for environmental hazardous NEW Mary Dennison Municipal Park.

It was discovered that the un-remediated property is sitting on natural peat (a natural dry source historically used as heating and fire source). The property has lagoons full of Coal Tar, Cyanide, and Spent Oxide. To date only a small wetlands area has been addressed by Northeast Utilities and that was to keep Cyanide from continuing its migration into the wetlands. In other words, Northeast is keeping the Cyanide on the property that they are renting out and the flammable hazardous coal tar and benzene materials are sitting on a giant wick!

Piles of wood and debris, trees stumps stockpiled for grinding into EnviroMulch, close-up of concrete and brick debris.

Commercial Landscaper dumping grass and leaves. Note large illegal stump dump in background. Stumps will be made into EnviroMulch, all sitting on contaminated soil, and in contaminated ground and surface water.

Other business on land leased by Landscape Depot.

Other business on parcel.

Perdoni Brothers trucks in large amounts of undocumented soil and dirt that is mixed onsite and sold as loam and organic compost.

Other business on parcel.

Click on photo to enlarge

The Sudbury Aqueduct continues from Farm Pond down through Southside ... and beyond

The main conduit of the Sudbury system is the Sudbury Aqueduct. Constructed between 1875 and 1878, the Sudbury Aqueduct was in use for almost 100 years. On February 13, 1878, following just 2.5 years of construction, the gates at Farm Pond were opened, unleashing the first flow from the Sudbury River to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir from where it was distributed to the city of Boston. By 1880 the system of reservoirs along the Sudbury was fully operational.

Construction of the Sudbury Aqueduct 1875-1878

The aqueduct consists primarily of a horseshoe-shaped brick lining that is 8.5 feet (2.6 m) in diameter and 7.667 feet (2.337 m) high. The bricks are set in concrete atop a foundation of concrete and stone rubble. The aqueduct is covered by an arch built of brick. Note the intensive manual work installing bricks to line the conduit.

The conduit was designed to slope downward at 1 foot per mile southeasterly from Farm Pond into Sherborn, easterly to Natick, Wellesley, Needham and finally to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir near Cleveland Circle in Brookline. The aqueduct was designed to carry water from the watershed of the Sudbury River to Boston and its surrounding communities. The system was designed to transmit 80 million gallons in 24 hours—a factor of two more than the source was to provide—to allow for future needs.

Route of the Sudbury Aqueduct from South Framingham to Chestnut Hill Reservoir, Boston

The Gate Houses

At a number of places along the aqueduct are small buildings built to house control equipment of various sorts. These include a gate house at Farm Pond (abandoned after a channel was constructed feeding the aqueduct from Framingham Reservoir #1 due to poor water quality at Farm Pond), a metering house in southeastern Framingham, and control houses over weirs where the aqueduct crosses over other bodies of water. These control points allow water from the aqueduct to be diverted into the watersheds it crosses.

Partial Aqueduct route from Cedar and Waverly Streets to Irving and Herbert Streets.
The Aqueduct trail continues from this point to Leland Street and into Sherborn.

The Sudbury Aqueduct was taken out of regular service in 1978 and now forms part of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's emergency backup system. Some of the open space along this historic aqueduct is available for public access. In January 1990, the route, buildings and structures associated with the aqueduct were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Looking northward at the Sudbury Aqueduct from Leland Street. Opening the aqueduct route would provide area residents a pleasant walking path to downtown Framingham.

Gate House at Leland Street

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA)

The MWRA was created in 1985 and assumed sewage and wastewater treatment functions from the former MDC (Metropolitan District Commission), now the DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation), which still maintains the watershed lands.

Guidlines for Public Access to Commonwealth Lands under the Care and Control of MWRA.

While under the care and control of MWRA, the goal is to protect and preserve existing lands for water supply purposes. MWRA recognizes the importance of enhancing public access and public involvement in its facilities as a means of improving its own performance in facilities maintenance and building support from its ratepayers.