Walpole, Massachusetts Approves Cleanup of Superfund Site
A revised plan by the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up a polluted industrial site in Walpole, Mass, has apparently satisfied local residents.
The Blackburn & Union Privileges Superfund site has a history of hazardous materials. In the 17th and 18th centuries the site contained a long list of industrial and commercial companies that used toxic substances such as chromium, mercury and arsenic. Later Multibestos, an asbestos manufacturing company, used the site. In the 20s and 30s a manufacturing plant making asbestos brake linings was established. This history has led residents to fear possible exposure to toxic levels of asbestos, known to cause mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer. Mesothelioma treatment can slow, but not cure, the disease.
After neighbors complained that the toxic cleanup seemed insufficient, the EPA developed a revised plan that is expected to satisfy residents. Asbestos attorneys and town officials are hopeful that the work will begin shortly.
Mesothelioma lawyers at the firm of Clapper, Patti, Schweizer & Mason have a history of successful prosecution of asbestos cases.
