Dear fellow Hanoverians:
The Town of Hanover will hold a meeting regarding the Former National
Fireworks Site on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at 7:00 pm, virtually and in
person at Hanover High School, 287 Cedar Street. The agenda covers the
existing status and the possible designation of the Former National
Fireworks Site as a Superfund Site.
The (former) National Fireworks site was used for research, development,
manufacturing and testing of munitions and pyrotechnics for the U.S.
government, as well as commercial manufacturing of civilian fireworks and
other non-munitions related manufacturing. Mercury, lead, organic solvents,
propellants and explosives were used in the manufacturing operations and
have contaminated the site.
Clean-up activities since 2015 have been funded by the Tronox Incorporated
Expendable Trust, which was established as part of a bankruptcy settlement
with a Potentially Responsible Party (approximately $74 million). Until
recently, the Town of Hanover was hopeful that the Mass. Attorney
General’s Office would be able to successfully negotiate a settlement
with the Potentially Responsible Parties – namely the Department of
Defense, MIT, and National Coatings Inc. – to secure funds required to
fully clean the site. However, it is the Town’s understanding that those
negotiations, which the Town was not a party to, were unsuccessful.
Therefore, as of today, sufficient funding is not available to complete the
clean-up activities to the extent required under Massachusetts’ waste
site cleanup regulations. MassDEP estimates that significant additional
funding, in excess of funding available in the Tronox Incorporated
Expendable Trust, will be required to complete the necessary environmental
cleanup.
Due to additional funding needed to complete the cleanup of the Site,
MassDEP has requested that the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) become involved with the
site. EPA has additional funding resources to address hazardous waste sites
under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA) once a site is added to the Superfund National Priorities List
(NPL).
Meeting participants on January 11th will include the Town of Hanover, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection, and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.
The Town of Hanover strongly encourages all residents and interested
individuals to participate in the meeting, either in person or remotely.
Remote Participation:
• Webinar address:
http://atotw.com/maillist/lt.php?tid=rxhTr1EtxqmlYBgQ+7LP/zD8Wol39HavsJQAdyzHixtoqLt7nDOoRqoN783ZLADJ
• Telephone: Dial one of the following phone numbers: 929-205-6099;
312-626-6799; 301-715- 8592; 346-248-7799; 669-900-6833; 253-215-8782
• If you are a dial-in participant and would like to ask a question,
please press *9 to enter the question queue.
• If you are a dial-in participant and would like to mute/unmute, please
press *6 to toggle.
• Webinar ID: 868 7114 3516
Additional Information:
http://atotw.com/maillist/lt.php?tid=1g/PK0fIN8m+OMLJVfL4oDD8Wol39IavsJQAdyzHixtoqLt7nDPIRqoN783ZLADJ
In Hanover, the Town Manager’s Office is the main point of contact at (781)
826-5000 x1084 , and there is also a special email address:
natlfireworkssiteinfo@hanover-ma.gov .
http://atotw.com/maillist/lt.php?tid=Swh35P8cUZGE3S/RuERH/TD8Wol39HavsJQAdyzHixtoqLt7nDNYRqoN783ZLADJ
EPA contact information is located on that latter page.
For “Around Town on the Web”,
Cathy H-B
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