Contaminated Stoughton, MA street

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LOCAL NEWSLiving a nightmare: Contamination fears worry residents of ‘American dream' street

and Leonard Borges of Stoughton are one of several homeowners on Canton Street who have sued two companies for damage caused by contamination in the land. The Borges haven't been able to use their swimming pool or their well water in several years. ( Bul/The Patriot Ledger)

By JESSICA FARGEN

The Patriot Ledger

STOUGHTON - Leonardo and Borges moved here from Portugal in 1982, and seven years later bought a white house with red shutters on Canton Street, built a pool and lived the American dream.

Now the pool is covered, they fear their home value is sliding and their children don't bring the grandchildren over to visit because of fears of contamination in the house.

The indoor air in their home is checked at least once a year and has turned up low levels of solvents, but Leonardo, 50, and , 49, still worry and question the adequacy of those tests.

‘‘They don't feel comfortable bringing the kids over at all because it's like, ‘What are we really breathing?''' said Anabela Borges, the Borges' 25-year-old daughter. ‘‘We used to have Thanksgiving and Christmas there ... that seems like it is just gone away.

‘‘It's very stressful. They just don't relax like the used to.''

The Borges' are two of 13 Canton Street residents who are suing Brookfield Engineering and Ark-Les Corp. for more than $2 million, claiming emotional distress, property devaluation, loss of use and enjoyment of property and response costs because of contamination.

The homes involved are numbered 305 to 427. The lawsuit was filed last year in U.S. District Court in Boston, though none of the claimants are saying they have suffered health-related problems.

The lawsuit is part of the continued fallout from contamination fears that arose three and a half years ago, when the state ordered four families evacuated from their homes. One of those residents, Goffredo, claimed contamination in his home had made him sick. Goffredo has since moved to Easton and has said his health has improved.

Brookfield Engineering, linked to the contamination, bought all the homes and demolished two of them.

Brookfield and four other companies in the area continue to monitor and treat the air, soil and groundwater. A state cancer study of the area that came out in 1999 revealed no high or unusual cancer rates in town.

But a citizens group, an attorney for the Canton Street residents and the head of a Boston toxics action group all believe that much more needs to be done before residents are comfortable.

‘‘The situation is and will continue to be severe,'' said Mark , an attorney who is representing the Canton Street residents. ‘‘There are solvents going into the indoor air of multiple residences and will likely continue to be going into those houses for the foreseeable future.''

said there is a plume of TCA, a degreaser used by Brookfield and Ark-Les, that extends under the homes. Ark-Les makes electrical components and Brookfield makes equipment to measure the viscosity of liquids.

and others have credited the Stoughton Citizens Association for raising awareness and getting involved not only in the Canton Street problems, but in problems linked to other nearby industrial businesses.

Ark-Les, Brookfield, Qual-Craft, United Oil (formerly E.C.C. and Jetline) and F.C. have all been linked to contamination caused by dangerous industrial chemicals they no longer used.

All have taken steps to reduce the effects, although the citizens group says some are working harder than others and others have gone undetected.

Ark-Les attorney Martland said Ark-Les currently tests three Canton Street homes, including the Borges' periodically. Tests from February show TCA below background levels in two of the homes and trace levels in the third, he said.

TCA is not a carcinogen, but can cause dizziness and balance problems if inhaled in high levels.

‘‘People are nervous and they don't need to be,'' Martland said. ‘‘The testing results are showing that the levels in the houses are below background levels, so they are not at a level that should cause anybody concern.''

But said his clients' environmental consultant has questioned Ark-Les' testing methods and believes they are not adequate.

‘‘It's like saying, ‘Oh a little contamination in your water doesn't hurt or a little in your food. Don't worry you are breathing solvents, but it won't hurt you,''' said.

‘‘They should not have to breathe the vapors wondering if this sporadic testing accurately reflects what they are breathing.''

, director of the Toxics Action Center in Boston, said there is a worry that the Stoughton contamination problem will fall off the radar screen.

‘‘There was a flurry of activity in the evacuations, now there is not a (Department of Environmental Protection) staff person assigned to these sites,'' said.

‘‘It's the citizens who are in charge of watch-dogging this whole operation, which shows the lack of funding that the (DEP) has to oversee important situations.

‘‘I think the lesson is that the government needs to be more aggressive and more timely in their cleanup of these sites.''

The town and DEP in the last year have both started work to increase public awareness.

Under state law, companies the state identifies as responsible for contamination must notify towns, but not residents whom may be affected.

The DEP is proposing a regulation that would make companies notify affected property owners directly if there is contamination. The regulation is still in draft form, said DEP spokesman Nugent.

The citizens association continues to press the five companies and have developed public involvement plans requiring them to meet periodically with residents and make all studies available to the public.

The association also helped formulate a bylaw to be proposed at town meeting that would charge permit fees for companies that use hazardous materials. Among other things, the fees would pay someone to monitor the five companies.

Dave Duross, a member of the Stoughton Citizens Association, said a larger problem may be that, in the case of the Goffredo home, the contamination was discovered by chance.

‘‘The problem is there is really no way to find out unless someone has a well tested or somebody notices an odor or something happens,'' Duross said.

‘‘There's no real way to know. There may be other companies in town that have the same problem. There is no real way to know that.''

What's been found

The following chemicals, among others, have been found in town, particularly in the Canton Street area as a result of industrial dumping, storage and leakage over the last forty years.

Tetrachlorethylene (PCE)

PCE is a manufactured chemical used for dry cleaning and metal degreasing.

Exposure to high levels can cause dizziness, headaches, confusion, nausea, speech and walking difficulties, unconsciousness and death. Exposure occurs when drinking PCE contaminated water.

Trichloroethylene (TCE)

TCE is a colorless liquid solvent used used to clean metal parts.

Exposure to high levels may cause nervous system effects, liver and lung damage, abnormal heartbeat, coma and possibly death. Some studies show TCE in high exposure levels can cause cancer.

Exposure occurs by breathing air in and around the home, drinking, swimming or showering in contaminated water and contracting it through the soil.

1,1,1 Trichloroethane (TCA)

TCA is found in building materials, cleaning products, paints and metal degreasing agents.

If inhaled in large amounts it can cause unconsciousness. Effects disappear when exposure ends.

Source: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Fargen may be reached at jfargen@....

Copyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger

Transmitted March 23, 2002

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