olin chemical

51 EAMES ST

The Olin Chemical facility encompasses a 53-acre property located at 51 Eames Street in Wilmington, Massachusetts. The inactive facility is completely fenced and is bounded on the north by Eames Street, on the east by Boston and Maine railroad tracks, on the south by the Woburn/Wilmington town line, and on the west by an inactive Boston and Maine railroad spur. Surrounding the property to the north, east and west are heavy and light industrial facilities, and to the south is a former municipal landfill for the City of Woburn. The closest residential areas are west of the Olin Chemical facility along Main Street and Cooke Avenue. The Olin Chemical property was used for chemical manufacturing starting in 1953 by National Polychemicals, Inc. (NPI). Between 1953 and 1971, NPI was owned or operated by American Biltrite Rubber Co., Fisons Limited, and Fisons Corporation. In 1968, Stepan Chemical Corporation purchased NPI and operated the facility until it was purchased by Olin Corporation in 1980. The facility manufactured chemical blowing agents, stabilizers, antioxidants and other specialty chemicals for the rubber and plastics industry. The facility closed in 1986, but the property is still owned by Olin Corporation. Historical waste water disposal practices were a major source of the contamination associated with the Olin Chemical facility. Prior to 1970, all liquid wastes were discharged directly into several unlined pits and ponds in the central portion of the property, as well as into a man-made excavation called Lake Poly Liquid Waste Disposal Area (Lake Poly). In 1970, Stepan Chemical installed an acid treatment and neutralization system and new lined lagoons to replace the unlined pits and ponds. Treated wastes were released into the lagoons where calcium sulfate sludge settled out. The lagoons were periodically dredged and the sludge was deposited in a landfill in the southwest corner of the property (now known as the Calcium Sulfate Landfill). Residual liquid wastes were released to an unlined on-property ditch system until 1972. On-site waste disposal practices have resulted in groundwater contamination both on and off the Olin Chemical property, and in late 2002 resulted in the closure of the Town of Wilmington's municipal drinking water supply wells located in Maple Meadow Brook.

Hazardous Ranking Score

50 / 100

A score of 28.5 or higher qualifies a site for the Superfund National Priority List.

Regional Contact

Region 1
Phone: (888) 372-7341
Fax: (617) 918-0101

Outside New England:
(617) 918-1111

Contact Region

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Timeline

Discovery
Site Inspection
Preliminary Assessment
Final Listing On NPL
Removal

Contaminants & Health Effects

      Carcinogen
      Endocrine Disrupter
      Neurotoxic
      Sensitiser
      Reproductive Toxin
      Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic
      VOC
      Mutagen

        Census

        White
        African American
        Asian
        American Indian and Alaska Native
        Native Hawaiian
        Other

        2,888

        People living
        within a 1 mile radius

        $112,286

        Average Income

        1,057

        Occupied homes

        Potentially Responsible Parties

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