EPA Will Test Contaminated Former Tannery Site Soon

Superfund work at the former Creese and Cook Tannery site will begin soon and a meeting has been scheduled to inform residents about the plans on April 30 at the Polish Club in Danvers.

The Salem News reported that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to install borings and wells on the east site of the Crane River in May and June. Those will “help determine the nature and extent of contamination from former tannery operations,” reported the News.

The EPA will analyze samples in June. The investigation and feasibility study could take as long as four years, reported the News.

The former company was a leather tanning and finishing operation. Solid wastes from the manufacturing process were put on two onsite landfills. 

The tannery was in operation through most of the 20th century until it closed in 1983. The former tannery was re-developed into 28 condos in 1986.

The EPA listed the property on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites in May 2013.

In February, the owner of the contaminated property agreed to pay nearly $400,000 to clean up the property. Nicholas J. Decoulos, who owns the former Creese and Cook Tannery Superfund site, “failed to clean up soils and sediments at the site, which contain high levels of arsenic and dioxin," said Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Find out more about the property on the EPA site.

Read the full Salem News article.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 30 at the Polish Club, Cheever Street.