Clean up of Marblehead site slated for October start

MARBLEHEAD – The National Lead clean-up of the Chadwick Lead Mills property on the Salem line is on target to begin shortly after Columbus Day and proceed through Valentine’s Day.Woodward and Curran consultant John Thompson, representing National Lead, told selectmen Wednesday evening the clean-up will start with the beach and harbor area.Before any work begins Thompson said he will have plans approved by the Department of Public Works and the police in Marblehead and Salem.The shoreline work will be done during the winter months at low tide – 10 a.m.-2 p.m. daily – and the company expects to take a short break around Halloween so the trucks removing the contamination won’t have to deal with Salem’s Haunted Happenings traffic gridlock.Once the shoreline work is completed the company will work its way across the contaminated areas of the property. The bike trail that runs across the Lead Mills site will be closed for about 18 months, but Thompson expressed the hope that it might reopen sooner.”It’s in our interest to get the work done in an efficient manner,” said Thompson, a professional geologist with a clean-up supervision license who has been working with the Chadwick Mills site since 1993.Town Administrator Tony Sasso said, “It’s fantastic that the work is finally started. We’ve been talking about it for many, many years.”