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    Jesse Gordon for Randolph Town Council >> Water Crisis> Green Justice

    U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley held a "Randolph Climate Justice House Party" in Randolph on Saturday, Sep 9, 2023. Here's a clip of her introducing the term "Green Justice" which I will use from now on -- she says the "Inflation Reduction Act" is really the "Green New Deal" with a focus on green jobs, green infrastructure, and green justice.

    I asked Ayanna whether she could help with our local "green justice" issue -- getting authorization for PFAS soil testing at a local Superfund site on the Holbrook-Randolph border. A "Superfund site" means a federally-designated toxic waste site -- ours is called "the Baird-McGuire Superfund site" -- and the Holbrook "TLA Trash Transfer Station" is attempting to build on the Superfund site. We delayed them a couple of months ago because they neglected to do any PFAS testing.

    The next step is to identify "PFAS hotspots" which I suspect are within the Superfund site. MassDEP has conducted several PFAS water sample tests in wells on the Superfund site, and found high levels of PFAS in 2019. That water runs downstream to our reservoir, so those high PFAS levels are definitely contributing to our drinking water having PFAS levels over the state limit of 20 ppt. I've been pushing to add soil testing -- to find the actual PFAS hotspots -- but we need federal authorization to enter the (locked behind fences) Superfund site.

    Rep. Pressley agreed to undertake figuring out the federal authorization, in conjunction with Rep. Steve Lynch, the U.S. Rep for Holbrook. I wrote a letter to Rep. Pressley's staff, which I will rewrite to the two Representatives together.

    Two other Randolph Dems commented during our discussion with Rep. Pressley. Randolph Dems Treasurer Sandi Cohen noted that PFAS was the rationale for the Holbrook Conservation Commission denying a continued construction permit for the TLA Trash Transfer Station -- but that's just a temporary delay so we'll need further action (and Rep. Pressley remembered Sandi's name because Ayanna's mother's name is also "Sandra").

    Randolph Dems Secretary Emeritus Cheryle Totten further noted that the late Town Councilor Ken Clifton had been instrumental for years in the legal battle against the TLA Trash Transfer Station. Rep. Pressley had name-checked Councilor Clifton as one of her major supporters in her early Congressional campaign -- but evidently Rep. Pressley was unaware that this was one of Ken's biggest issues.

    It was a lovely event also attended by Town Council candidate Daija Kirkland; School Committee candidate Ida Gordon; State Senate candidate Kathleen Crogan-Camara; and dozens of others. The event was supposed to be outdoors but we experienced a sudden thunderstorm so we all crammed in to our friend's home unexpectedly -- hence the unusual setting and lighting for Ayanna's speech!

    Sept. 9, 2023

    To: Rep. Steven Lynch (MA-8), 37 Belmont Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 3, Brockton, MA 02301

    And: Rep. Ayanna Presslet (MA-7), 1295 River Street, Hyde Park, MA 02136

    Dear Reps. Lynch and Pressley --

    I'm seeking your help in getting access to a federal Superfund site in Holbrook, the Baird-McGuire site on the Randolph border. This site has been leaching PFAS into our Tri-Town water supply for many years, and I'd like to conduct soil testing to identify PFAS hotspots, which might then be remediated. Some details:

    On July 17, the Holbrook Conservation Commission denied the construction permit for the TLA Trash Transfer Station because they had failed to do PFAS testing, as ordered by the Randolph Town Council and Holbrook Select Board in joint Resolutions in 2022. PFAS has been found in high concentrations in several wells in the Baird-McGuire Superfund site, which overlaps the TLA site and has spillover into Randolph and our Tri-Town reservoir. I'm following up our temporary victory with new joint Randolph-Holbrook actions to strengthen PFAS testing and PFAS remediation when hotspots are found.

    I'd like Rep. Lynch's and Rep. Pressley's help in authorizing PFAS testing (and possible PFAS remediation) on the Superfund site -- like a "letter of support" for my PFAS clean-up plan linked below, which has been met with strong pushback from Town officials and equally strong support from voters. Many of the PFAS testing sites would be water testing downstream in Randolph and soil testing on adjacent Randolph properties -- but the target is the Superfund site itself, which is entirely within Holbrook.


    MassDEP has conducted several PFAS water sample tests in wells on the Superfund site, and found high levels of PFAS in 2019. That water runs downstream to our reservoir, so those high PFAS levels are definitely contributing to our drinking water having PFAS levels over the state limit of 20 ppt. I've been pushing to add soil testing -- to find the actual PFAS hotspots -- but we need federal authorization to enter the (locked behind fences) Superfund site.

    MassDEP has conducted a series of PFAS water tests at locations downstream in Randolph, in 2022-2023. Those tests revealed PFAS levels exceeding 20 ppt downstream from the Superfund site (and upstream from the Tri-Town reservoir). That points toward the Superfund site as a PFAS source -- but we'll need further water testing to demonstrate whether that's true, or just some other nearby PFAS source. I've written a Randolph Town Council Resolution to conduct that PFAS water testing, which I plan to also introduce as a Holbrook Select Board Resolution. The proposed Resolution is attached.

    MassDEP has no capacity to conduct PFAS soil testing so my Town Council Resolution calls for soil testing to be conducted via private PFAS testing labs. MassDEP has a limited capacity to conduct timely PFAS water tests at varying locations, so my Town Council Resolution calls for conducting those test with a private lab too. The goal would be to trace our Tri-Town Reservoir's PFAS contamination back upstream to its source.

    To brief you about the Tri-Town Reservoir: Randolph, Holbrook, and Braintree share a single reservoir, which currently has a Tri-Town water treatment plant under construction. Currently, there are two water treatment plants, one for Braintree and one for Randolph-Holbrook. All three water treatment plants exceeded the state PFAS limit of 20 ppt in recent years, and had to send out PFAS warnings to all water users. Braintree installed GAC filters over a year ago, and Randolph-Holbrook followed this year -- and the new Tri-Town water treatment plant will include GAC filters as well.

    The expense of those GAC filters is about a half-million dollars per year to "recharge" the GAC filters as they become saturated with PFAS. The purpose of finding PFAS sources is to remove the PFAS so it doesn't enter our reservoir, rather than filtering it out as it leaves our reservoir. If we can cut half of the source PFAS, we would reduce the GAC filtering cost by a quarter-million dollars per year.

    I spoke with Rep. Pressley about this issue at her "Green Justice" event in Randolph today, and she suggested including Rep. Lynch for further action. I note that the voters in the audience expressed support for taking further action on PFAS, as there has been strong support in Randolph for several years. The recent vote in Holbrook indicates voter support for PFAS action in their municipal agencies, too.

    I look forward to working with your office to move forward on PFAS testing on the federal Superfund site. Sincerely, Jesse Gordon References: https://jessegordon.com/CleanUpPFAS.htm (including proposed PFAS testing Town Council resolution attached) and Superfund info at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0100392

    Click for Town Council proposed Resolution

    Sept. 8, 2023

    To Ayanna Pressley's office --

    I'd like to bring to your attention three separate issues of environmental injustice in Randolph, about which the Town of Randolph could use federal help. A "letter of support" would be a great start on all three, but further involvement would also be welcomed!

    1. Superfund site PFAS source on Randolph/Holbrook border

      In July, the Holbrook Conservation Commission denied the construction permit for the TLA Trash Transfer Station because they had failed to do PFAS testing, as ordered by the Randolph Town Council and Holbrook Select Board in joint Resolutions in 2022. PFAS has been found in high concentrations in several wells in the Baird-McGuire Superfund site, which overlaps the TLA site and has spillover into Randolph and our joint reservoir. I'm following up our temporary victory with new joint Randolph-Holbrook actions to strengthen PFAS testing and PFAS remediation when hotspots are found.

      I'd like Rep. Pressley's help in authorizing PFAS testing (and possible PFAS remediation) on the Superfund site -- like a "letter of support" for my PFAS clean-up plan linked below, which has been met with strong pushback from Town officials and equally strong support from voters. Many of the PFAS testing sites would be water testing downstream in Randolph and soil testing on adjacent Randolph properties -- plus more in Holbrook (Rep. Lynch's district).

      P.S. The Randolph Town manager contacted your office early in 2023, with a "letter of support" from the Randolph Democratic Town Committee signed by me as chair, seeking a federal budget line item for PFAS remediation, perhaps $5 million. That money would go to PFAS GAC filtering, PFAS testing, and possible PFAS remediation. Funding would be useful in next year's budget too -- any update?

      References: https://jessegordon.com/CleanUpPFAS.htm and Superfund info at https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0100392

    2. Abandoned Nike missile site in Blue Hills State Park


      The RICC Community Center has begun "Mass in Motion" hikes around the Blue Hills State Park -- on July 30, we hiked around the abandoned federal Nike/Ajax missile site in North Randolph. It is ugly and dangerous and should be remediated -- like the other two missile site components were remediated decades ago in the wealthy communities of Braintree and Milton. I've recently been "re-opening" the Randolph sections of the Blue Hills near the missile site by placing "Welcome" signs and getting our DPW to clean up the trails, because the Mass DCR has denied any trail improvements in Randolph (another environmental injustice). I'd like to extend the "re-opening" to removing the extensive barbed wire and filling in the dangerous underground holes left over from the 1950s missile siloes. The state DCR dismisses all inquiries by saying "it's federal," but DCR legally owns the land.

      A "letter of support" from Rep. Pressley would help, explaining to DCR that they have the right to clean up the federal mess on state land, since they have been claiming for decades that it's out of their control. Or better yet, explaining to DCR that they have the obligation to clean up the federal mess, and the feds will provide funds to do so, like they did for Braintree and Milton decades ago. References: http://jessegordon.com/Pasture/ for "Blue Hills re-opening", plus video showing kids how they can climb down into the abandoned missile control rooms at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cs9obYuQZ4

    3. Abandoned rail right-of-way from Stoughton to Braintree

      Randolph has a lovely "rail-trail" extending from the Braintree MBTA station through Randolph and well into Stoughton and beyond, called the "Old Colony Rail Trail" and formerly owned by the Old Colony Railroad company and then Conrail. But most of the rail-trail is closed to the public, abandoned by its owners and left to blight our community with overgrowth and trash. I'd like to clean up the rail-trail and open it for public recreational usage, but that idea is hindered by ambiguous land ownership.

      For decades, the Randolph DPW has maintained a one mile section of the rail-trail, from North Street to Depot Street (the site of the abandoned rail depot, which now includes a memorial marker). Our DPW clears brush and trash at Town expense, but the Town doesn't own the land. And sometimes neighbors complain, such as a tree falling across an abutter's fence in June, which the DPW has no right to clean up, nor does the abutter!

      At issue is the ambiguous ownership status of the land, which is several miles long and 50 yards wide. The Commonwealth, in theory, took possession of the land when the federal right-of-way was abandoned, but there's no paperwork saying so. The Town of Randolph's official parcel maps list no ownership at all -- just an empty linear space between abutters on both sides. We're at a standstill for any progress because the federal/state/private ownership is so old and ambiguous. A "letter of support" stating that other municipalities have successfully assumed ownership of rail-trails in similar circumstances would help -- the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy suggests that's a workable path forward.

      References: https://www.randolph-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1952/Old-Colony-Rail-Trail-Presentation-PDF for my CPC application to clean up the next segment, which was denied because nobody could figure out land ownership. More info at https://randolphemeraldnecklace.com/Teed.htm -- history at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Colony_Railroad -- CPC application was done with https://www.railstotrails.org/

      --Jesse Gordon
      Randolph District 2 Town Councilor
      Text 617-320-6989
      jgordon@randolph-ma.gov

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