Framingham health officials criticize state on ... - Health and Fitness

General Chemical filed a notice of closure for its South Framingham facility on March 1, after years of concerns from residents and town officials about potential health hazards to the neighborhood, which includes the adjacent Woodrow Wilson Elementary School.

On June 26, General Chemical, overseen by the DEP, performed a pilot air monitoring test to help evaluate its cleanup plans. Samples were collected to screen for a variety of volatile organic compounds and air pollutants at several locations both upwind and downwind of the cleanup, according to Joe Ferson, a spokesman for the environmental agency.

?While [General Chemical] and MassDEP are still compiling the data, we can say at this point that the level of air pollution did not exceed any health limits during the test,? Ferson said.

Full data should be available around July 13, and plans are to proceed with cleanup soon after, he said.

But the Framingham Board of Health is protesting its exclusion from the June 26 pilot testing, calling the DEP?s outreach to inform the multilingual neighborhood of the plans ?a failure,? according to the letter signed Thursday by Ethan Mascoop, Framingham?s director of public health, on behalf of the full board.

The Board of Health ?observed serious health and safety breaches from our position outside the fence,? the letter said.

?We believe it is our right and our duty to assist, advise, and inform MassDEP during the closure process,?? said the letter, calling Framingham health officials the ?eyes and ears? of the local community.

In addition, the Board of Health is asking that the DEP?s Business Compliance Division be included in the oversight. The DEP?s Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup staff was present at the pilot test for air monitoring, as opposed to overall closing procedures, according to the board?s letter.

Despite input from the Board of Health and other Framingham officials, the DEP did not use local expertise in communicating with residents who speak a mix of English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Article source: http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-05/yourtown/32553735_1_director-of-public-health-waste-site-cleanup-cleanup-plans

Source: http://medicaltips.biz/framingham-health-officials-criticize-state-on-toxic-cleanup-effort/

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