Source: http://www.telegram.com, November 15, 2016
By: Debbie LaPlaca
In a new report to state environmental regulators, Southbridge landfill operator Casella Waste Systems says an abandoned drum on a vacant H Foote Road property is a potential source of the well contamination plaguing the surrounding neighborhood.
Casella, doing business as Southbridge Recycling & Disposal Park, announced in fall 2015 that probable human carcinogen 1,4-dioxane and other toxins were detected in 21 residential wells in the abutting H Foote Road neighborhood.

The Charlton health board has discussed the matter with affected residents at each of its meetings since.
Charlton health board consultant Gary E. Magnuson of CMG Environmental reported at a board meeting Tuesday that Casella recently filed a mandatory one-year report with the DEP.
The report, he said, reiterates Casella’s position that the landfill is not the source partly because most of the six contaminants found in the wells on H Foote Road have not been found in landfill monitoring wells.
“We believe that this statement is incorrect,” Mr. Magnuson said.
The DEP recently concluded its review of a 604-page report filed by landfill consultant Tighe & Bond regarding the movement of groundwater at and near the landfill. Casella pointed to the report as evidence the Southbridge landfill is not the source of toxins found in residential wells.
The Tighe & Bond report suggested nearby businesses and a drum on a vacant residential property were possible sources of the toxins.

The DEP response was the report contained insufficient information to rule out the landfill and more investigation was needed.
Mr. Magnuson said the one-year report says one toxin of concern was found in a sample collected from the drum on vacant property.
“They believe (it’s) the possible source of contaminants on H Foote Road,” he said. “That’s a significant new finding.”
Mr. Magnuson said the DEP had tested the contents of the drum and the ground around it and reported no concerns. Casella, he said, is seeking to conduct more testing at the site.
In his update to the board, Mr. Magnuson said Casella has now installed whole-house filtration systems in nine H Foote Road homes. Three additional homes are being monitored for possible future filtration systems. Those three are among 12 homes on H Foote Road and one on Eleanor Lane that are receiving DEP-mandated bottled water from Casella.
The company is also providing courtesy bottle water to eight concerned homeowners on Eleanor Lane and nine on H Foote Road.