New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
We have lived in Fairhaven for 50 years and are acutely aware of the current and potential health hazards the Town, State and Federal Government under the leadership of the EPA have foisted upon our community known as “Oxford Village.” Pictured here is artist Dorothy Renfree’s rendering of our village, a proud and quaint historic neighborhood overlooking the Acushnet River where whaling ships were once built. Now, just yards away from our shoreline, is a potential waste dump for the containment of Acushnet River PCBs in CAD cells (unlined burial holes) in the New Bedford/Fairhaven harbor.
How many CAD cells are contemplated for the future we do not know – perhaps only when the money runs out! The CAD cells that are presently being dug are not scheduled to be capped for two years, leaving the tides, currents, winds, and commercial vessels time to stir up the sediment, which will most likely end up back in the river . . . some cleanup!
We are also left to deal with the airborne exposure to known carcinogens during the one-year dredging and placement phase of 300,000 cubic yards of PCB contaminated sediment scheduled to begin in November 2015 with no air monitors adequately placed to alert us when it is unhealthy to step outside!
Our Town officials apparently are unwilling to address the health issues with the EPA. Wasn’t the Environmental Protection Agency formed to protect the citizens of this country against potential environmental health hazards such as we face today with this CAD cell project?
The EPA has slated our area as the “model” for this type of project in a residential area, since CAD cells have not been placed in populated urban areas in any other location in the United States of America.
We reference the letters and agree and applaud Governor Chris Christie, who took affirmative action to prevent the creation of CAD cells in his state of New Jersey with a recommended remediation plan for offsite treatment and disposal of contaminated sediments in the Passaic River.
Many might remember that the Hands Across the River Coalition won a court injunction against the EPA in the 1990s for using incineration to burn PCBs in the upper harbor, which would have created deadly dioxin exposure to residents in our area. The court stopped them. To learn more about this issue visit Hands Across the River Coalition on Facebook or contact harcgnb@gmail.com.
