November 14, 2006
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.– UNSTABLE, PATHOGENIC CLASS A SLUDGE COMPOST FROM MERRIMACK, NH, &
BRISTOL, RI, - HIGH IN FECAL COLIFORM – SPREAD AT MIDDLE SCHOOL, WHICH IS BUILT OVER HAZARDOUS
WASTE DUMP, TO BE OCCUPIED BY YOUNG CHILDREN . .
Yet more toxins found at Keith
This time the problem is loam trucked in for landscaping
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer
NEW BEDFORD — It seems the new Keith Middle School project can't catch a break. Even soil brought in from other
places has been found to be contaminated.
The city has ordered the site's contractor, Agostini Construction Co. of East Providence, to remove all of the soil a
subcontractor laid down for grass and shrubs because it contained very high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria.
Test results of the soil revealed it contained as much as 340,000 parts fecal coliform bacteria per gram, considerably
higher than the environmental standard of 1,000 parts per gram set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The results were mixed, with some spots testing as low as 3,200 parts fecal coliform, and one spot testing for the spike
of 340,000 parts fecal coliform.
Conservation Agent Sarah Porter told the Board of Health last night that the soil a subcontractor brought to the site
smelled terrible, and that she was concerned about its possible effect on wetlands behind the school. She had some
of the material tested and found it to have high counts of fecal coliform.
Agostini did extensive testing of all of the material it had laid down throughout the site and found high counts of fecal
coliform throughout.
Last month, the city and the Conservation Commission ordered Agostini to remove all of the soil and replace it with
clean soil. Last night, the Board of Health confirmed that opinion, calling the soil "a potentially hazardous condition."
Fecal coliform bacteria is found in mammalian feces, according to the EPA, and "is used as an indicator of the
presence of human feces, bacteria, viruses, and pathogens in the water column."
The $70 million school was built on a city dump site whose soil was contaminated with industrial byproducts like
polychlorinated biphenyls, heavy metals and semi-volatile organic compounds. During construction, about 70,000 tons
of soil was removed from the site, and a cap was placed over the remaining contaminated soil. The school was built on
more than 160 concrete pilings that were driven as much as 25 feet into the soil.
The new soil that Agostini delivered to the site is already being removed from the rear portion of the site, near the
wetland, according to Mayor Scott W. Lang.
"We had previously asked that they remove all of the soil from the site," Mayor Lang said last night. "One way or the
other, that soil was coming off. I'm glad the board (of health) has bolstered the city's position on this."
Ms. Porter said Agostini was contracted to bring loam to the site that had enough organic content to support the
growth of grass and shrubs. The first soil brought to the site, however, was not loam. She described it as "a silty,
sandy mixture" that would not have supported such growth.
The company then brought in two types of compost to supplement its first delivery, she said. One batch of compost
came from Merrimack, N.H., and contained what Ms. Porter described as "biosolids, brewery yeast and sawdust." The
mixture was supposed to be heated at high enough temperatures to kill any micro-organisms, she said.
The second batch of compost, from Bristol, R.I., was a combination of leaves and grass clippings. Ironically, it was this
second batch that was found to have the dramatic fecal coliform counts, she said.
Board members asked Ms. Porter where the fecal coliform might have come from. She said it could come from animals
or humans, and that the compost might have become contaminated when it was stored or transferred. She was
adamant, however, that it was present in the compost when it was delivered.
"I think the fecal coliform was indicative of other things that were likely in the soil," she told the Board of Health last
night. She was also asked if the bacteria might have been on the site already.
Tests were taken at Walsh Field, to give the city an idea of what fecal coliform levels might exist already. Three tests
found much lower levels, from three parts fecal coliform to 2,800, she said.
Contact Aaron Nicodemus
at anicodemus@s-t.com
http://search.ottaway.com/search?q=cache:u_jCm-FN01IJ:www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/11-06/11-14-06/01local.
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http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/11-06/11-15-06/02local.htm
Excerpts from November 15, 2006
“Mr. Hanscom and Rick Reuter, executive manager of Agostini Construction, said they expect to start sampling the
Merrimack compost today. The compost is located behind the school building in two small planting beds. The
Merrimack compost comprises biosolids, brewery yeast and sawdust.
The city found the Merrimack compost to be above the fecal coliform limit, but Mr. Hanscom said the contractor's tests
showed significantly lower levels. “
He said the latest results will be available early next week.
The new $70 million Keith Middle School's doors have yet to open, but already it boasts a troubled history.
The site, a former city dump, has soil contaminated with industrial byproducts like polycholorinated biphenyls, heavy
metals and semi-volatile organic compounds. During construction, an estimated 70,000 pounds of soil was removed
and an earthen cap placed over the remaining contaminated soil.
In August, construction crews unearthed the cap supposed to keep contaminated soil below ground. The state
required the cap have at least three feet of clean fill over it. However, it and its protective orange warning barrier were
breached when a bulldozer overturned a 40-foot swath of earth.
Contact Brian Fraga
at bfraga@s-t.com