Spring Pond sludge to be dumped at Farm Avenue

PEABODY – To help move things along in the quickest and most cost effective manner, the Health Department has approved a request to dump sludge dredged from Spring Pond into the landfill at Farm Avenue.Weston and Sampson, the engineering company managing the cleanup process, will have special access to the landfill until May 2009 for the sole purpose of dumping plant, dirt, iron, and aluminum residuals removed from Lower Spring Pond. Any other use is prohibited, said Public Health Director Sharon Cameron.”There’s clearly a need,” she said. “It would really make for a much more cost effective process and allow them to comply with the requirements to clean it up.”Cameron said that Public Services Director Dick Carnevale and his team of engineers presented data to the Board of Health at a recent meeting that proved the residuals would pose no threat to the public’s health or the environment.”Our Board’s main concern was the health impact, and they determined there were no risks involved,” she said. “It wouldn’t create any nuisances.”The temporary waiver will allow the group to dump no more than 10,000 tons of sludge, although the anticipated amount removed would only add up to about half of that.Between 1997 and 2006, the city was denied permission to dispose of residual waste through the South Essex Sewerage District. Carnevale made the decision to pump all the waste into two onsite lagoons built with the ability to handle only half that amount. The lagoons overflowed and residual waste found its way into Lower Spring Pond.The State Department of Environmental Protection fined the city in the amount of $25,000 in 2006 when reports of the contamination arose. That amount was lowered to $6,000 after the city agreed to clean the pond entirely by Oct. 1, 2008, or face a $1,000 a day fine until they do.Cameron said she expects the work to begin by the fall and continue well into November.