bostonbubble.com

[JAP]

A seller of a homes I was going to purchase did disclose potential toxicity issues of soil, water, etc (past and current cleanup in progress). I almost purchased a house in an area that was having these types of issues. After doing some research I came across the below site that identifies these areas as well as gives a farily good description of what type of pollution occured and where they are in the process of cleaning things up. This was a HUGE eye opener for me. I have now ruled out a handful of towns where I was thinking of buying (South Acton, Concord, and Natick).

Below is a link to the site that identifies all superfund sites in the country as well as all of the MA towns with a degree of pollution. Notice some of the high cost living areas (Acton, Lexington, Bedford, Sudbury) with severe past and current contamination to soil, water, etc. It shocking that it is not required to disclose this type of informaiton to potential buyers even if the contamination was done in the past and already cleaned up or in currently being cleaned up.

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/where.htm


MA ATLAS TACK CORP. Fairhaven 04 Bristol
20 MA BAIRD & MCGUIRE Holbrook 09 Norfolk
21 MA BLACKBURN AND UNION PRIVILEGES Walpole 09 Norfolk
22 MA CANNON ENGINEERING CORPORATION (BRIDGEWATER) Bridgewater 09 Bristol, Plymouth
23 MA CHARLES-GEORGE RECLAMATION TRUST LANDFILL Tyngsborough 05 Middlesex
24 MA FORT DEVENS Shirley, Ayer, Lancaster, Harvard 05 Middlesex, Worcester
25 MA FORT DEVENS-SUDBURY TRAINING ANNEX Sudbury and Maynard and Hudson and Stow 05 Middlesex
26 MA GROVELAND WELLS NO. 1 & 2 SITE Groveland 06 Essex
27 MA HANSCOM FIELD/HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE Bedford, and Concord and Lexington and Lincoln 06 Middlesex
28 MA HATHEWAY & PATTERSON Mansfield 04 Bristol
29 MA HAVERHILL MUNICIPAL LANDFILL Haverhill 06 Essex
30 MA HOCOMONCO POND Westborough 03 Worcester
31 MA INDUSTRI-PLEX North Woburn 07 Middlesex
32 MA IRON HORSE PARK North Billerica 05 Middlesex
33 MA MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY (USARMY) Watertown 07 Middlesex
34 MA NATICK LABORATORY ARMY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER Natick 07 Middlesex
35 MA NAVAL WEAPONS INDUSTRIAL RESERVE PLANT Bedford 06 Middlesex
36 MA NEW BEDFORD SITE NEW BEDFORD and FAIRHAVEN and ACUSHNET and DARTMOUTH 04 Bristol
37 MA NORWOOD PCBS Norwood 09 Norfolk
38 MA NUCLEAR METALS Concord 05 Middlesex
39 MA NYANZA CHEMICAL WASTE DUMP Ashland 03 Middlesex
40 MA OLIN CHEMICAL Wilmington 05 Middlesex
41 MA OTIS AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE/CAMP EDWARDS Falmouth and Bourne and Sandwich and Mashpee 10 Barnstable
42 MA PLYMOUTH HARBOR/CANNON ENGINEERING CORP. Plymouth 10 Plymouth
43 MA PSC RESOURCES Palmer 02 Hampden
44 MA RE-SOLVE, INC. North Dartmouth 03 Bristol
45 MA ROSE DISPOSAL PIT Lanesborough 01 Berkshire
46 MA SALEM ACRES Salem 06 Essex
47 MA SHPACK LANDFILL Attleboro and Norton 03 Bristol
48 MA SILRESIM CHEMICAL CORP. Lowell 05 Middlesex
49 MA SOUTH WEYMOUTH NAVAL AIR STATION Weymouth, Abington, Rockland 10 Norfolk, Plymouth
50 MA SULLIVAN'S LEDGE New Bedford 04 Bristol
51 MA SUTTON BROOK DISPOSAL AREA Tewksbury 05 Middlesex
52 MA WELLS G & H Woburn 07 Middlesex
53 MA W. R. GRACE & CO., INC.(ACTON PLANT) Acton, Concord 05 Middlesex

[JAP]

The post above was supposed to say did NOT disclose.

[melonrightcoast]

JAP-

You are correct that purchasing real estate in MA is very risky, as "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) is the rule and sellers are not required to disclose much of anything. In addition to the superfund site, i also recommend looking at the State's waste-site list: http://db.state.ma.us/dep/cleanup/sites/search.asp This will include much smaller sites, such as gas stations, that could have an impact on your decision to purchase a property. Unknown the most people, gas stations leak, and gasoline has carcinogenic compounds, such as benzene and MBTE, that can dissolve into groundwater and impact well water and possibly indoor air.

I knew to do this research because prior to being home full-time, i worked in environmental consulting, which is a rather busy industry in the Boston area thanks to a couple hundred years of industrial pollution and relatively strict regulations. I would often do the environmental due diligence for buyers and/or their lenders.

One of the bigger sites that I worked on was in Wellesley, where a paint factory contaminated the soil, surface water and groundwater with heavy metals (lead and cadmium). Unfortunately, some of the soil at residences in the town have also been contaminated because residents would take the beautifully colored paint waste and use it to decorate their gardens.

The WR Grace site in Acton contaminated groundwater and town wells. I did not work on that project, but I do know people in my former office that did. I definitely XX'd out that part of town in my home search in Acton, and am planning on installing a home water filtration system, even though I know how closely monitored those wells are by the consultants and town water department (one of my former colleagues now works for Acton's water department).

*If you are considering purchasing a property with a well and no access to town water, be VERY, VERY diligent in your research.*

Based on all the sites I have worked on, and knowledge of even more, I don't think there are very many towns or cities in Eastern MA that are free of toxic sites. But some sites are definitely worse than others, so it is important to do the research.
_________________
melonrightcoast ... are you?

[melonrightcoast]

Additionally, I worked for the potential buyers and their lenders because once you own the property, you also own the contamination on that property, and the State will require you to clean it up. Buyer beware indeed!
_________________
melonrightcoast ... are you?