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UNITID ITATEI ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGINCY ~ ";~ ~· ~= ~· ·.: /~ · REGION I . U' .Ji>JI!>ijff~

J. F. KENNEDY FEDER~L BUILDING, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETts o:i2o:s . ·. IYi I -\ 11 · \/f;~ · CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

September 14, 1987

Ugo DiBiase and DiBiase Salem Realty Trust c/o rtichae~ P. Last Gaston Snow & Ely Bartlett One Federal Street Boston, MA 02109

Re: Salem Acres Salem, nassachusetts, hereinafter referred to as •the Site•

Dear Mr. Last:

The EPA has documented releases or a substantial threat of releases into the environment of hazardous substances and/or pollutants or contaminants, including, but not limited to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the Salem Acres Site located in Salem, Hasschusetts which may present an imminent and substantial danger to, the public health or welfare or to the environment. In response, the EPA has undertaken and may continue to undertake certain actions pursuant to Section 104 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), 42 u.s.c. § 9604, as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), Pub. L. No. 99-499.

The EPA has determined that there .may be an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health or welfare or the environment and that additional response actions are necessary to protect public health or welfare or the environment. Under Sections 106(a) and 107(a) of CERCLA, 42 u.s.c SS 9606(a) and 9607(a), Section 7003 of the Resource conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), 42 u.s.c. S 6973, and other laws, responsible parties may be required to implement relief actions deemed necessary by EPA and ·may be liable for all costs incurred by the government in responding to any release or threatened releases at the Site. such costs may include, but are not limited to, expenditures for investigation, planning, response and enforcement activities.

Before EPA spends public funds to und.ertake additional necessary response actions at the Site, SPA invites you,

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as ·a potentially respons.ible party, to reimburse EPA for the costs incurred to date and to voluntarily perform or finance the additional response activities that EPA has determined are required at the Site. These include:

o Dewatering of the sludge pit areas with vacuum trucks:

° Constructing cut off walls around each pit area:

° Constructing shallow sumps with pumps in the pit areas: 0 Perfqrming the minimum necessary excavation to shape

the pit areas for natural drainage:

o Covering the entire area with a construction gage (250 mil) welded HOPE cover anchored to cut of wall:

0 Reinforcing the Area I dike: and

0 Installing shallow bedrock wells to monitor performance of the encapsulating system.

In addition to those actions listed above, EPA may, pursuant to its authority under CERCLA, RCRA or other laws, determine that additional activities are necessary to protect public health, welfare, or the environment. If you have any comments about these proposed actions, EPA invites you to submit such comments as soon as possible, but in no event later than September 21, 1987 for inclusion into the administrative record.

A notice letter also has been sent to the South Essex Sewerage District (SESD) and Elio DiBiase. You may wish to discuss the matters set forth in this letter with such persons or their attorneys. Please be advised, however, that liability under CERCLA is joint and several and therefore, each responsible party is potentially liable for undertaking the entire response action or reimbursing the government for the entire amount of response costs.

TiftiNG AND FORH OF RESPONSE TO THIS LETTER

Although you declined to perform response measures and studies that were a direct percurser to the activities described above, you should notify EPA within five (5) days from receipt of this letter of your willingness to perform or finance the activities described above. If EPA does not receive a timely response, E?A will assume that you have declined any involvement in performing this response action. Please be advised that in the absence of voluntary participation in this response action, EPA may nonetheless

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order you to undertake such action under section 106 of CERCLA, 42 u.s.c. S 9606, or EPA may itself undertake any necessary response actions and seek reimbursement for its expenditures through civil litigation in federal district court.

If you are already involved in discussions with the state or local authorities, engaged in voluntary clean-up action, or involved in a lawsuit regarding this Site, you should continue such activities as you see fit. This letter is not intended to advise you or direct you to restrict or discontinue any such activitie&J however, you are advised to report the status of those discussion or actions in your response to this letter and to provide a copy of your response to. any other parties involved in those discussions or actions.

Your response letter and any technical questions you may have about the matters discussed herein should be directed to:

u.s. Environmental Protection Agency Robert Ankstitus 60 Uestview Avenue Lexington, ItA 02173 (617) 861-6700

If you have any legal questions about the matters discussed herein, please contact:

Jeremy Firestone Office of Regional Counsel - u.s. EPA JFK Federal Building - Room 2203 Boston, HA 02203 Telephone: (617) 565-3441

Because of the exigen~ies of the situation require that work at the Site begin as expeditiously as possible, please be advised that neither this letter nor the letter dated April 23, 1987 constitute a special notice pursuant to Section 122(e) of CERCLA, 42 u.s.c. S 9622(e).

The factual and legal discussions in this letter are . intended solely to provide notice and information, and such discussions are not to be "construed as a final agency position of any matter set forth herein. Due to the seriousness of the environmental and legal problems posed by conditions at the Site, EPA urges that immediate attention and a prompt response be given to this letter.

By copy of this letter, EPA is notifying the State of nassachusetts and the Natural Resource Trustees of our • !

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intent to enter negotiations for the performance or financing of response actions at the Site.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

~J'JJL_ Merrill s. Hohman, Director Waste Management Division

Attachments

cc. Director, Office of Waste Programs Enforcement Director, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response Robert Ankstitus, on-Scene Coordinator Jeremy Firestone, Assistant Regional Cousnel John c. Keane, Regional Project Manager Henry Guzman, DEOE Jay Naparstak, DEOE

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