Restoration Advisory Board to address GSA cleanup site near Greenough Boulevard

Watertown Citizens for Environmental Safety (WCES) urges citizens to attend the next meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) on Tuesday, January 17 in the Lower Hearing Room at Town Hall. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. with a review of Superfund cleanup activities in the Charles River. At about 8:00 p.m. it will continue with a presentation on the status of the environmental cleanup at the General Services Administration (GSA) site near Greenough Boulevard.

WCES has been following the cleanup of the Watertown Arsenal since 1987. WCES participates 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 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 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. In light of this apparent contradiction, the RAB asked the Corps to reconsider. When the Corps reviewed their Risk Assessment, they decided that since it was not safe for younger children to play there, they would prohibit use of the site for playing fields as well. Under this restriction, the property could be set aside as wetland, or used for passive recreation such as walking trails.

But it appears that DCR is not planning to accept the GSA property with a prohibition against playing fields, nor to require further cleanup to make the area safe for young children. Instead, they are asking the Corps to abide by its original Risk Assessment and claiming that the use distinction between younger and older children is legal under Massachusetts law. The Corps of Engineers is committed to transferring this site by September 2006 under any terms the state will accept.

Meanwhile, a nearby private school is interested using 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.

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.