The Nuclear Metals, Inc. (NMI) Site, also known
as the Starmet Corporation Site, is located on a 46.4-acre parcel located
at 2229 Main Street in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
The property
is bordered to the north by Main Street, commercial and residential
properties, and the Assabet River; to the east by woodland and
residential properties; to the west by woodland and
commercial/industrial properties; and to the south by woodland and
residential properties. The topography of the property slopes down to the north.
From 1958 to the present, the
Site has been used by various operators at various times as a specialized
research and metal manufacturing facility, which was licensed to
possess and process low-level radioactive substances. At various times,
site
operators used depleted uranium, beryllium, titanium, zirconium,
copper, acids, solvents, and other substances at the Site. From 1958
to 1985, site operators disposed of manufacturing by-products,
including waste solutions containing depleted uranium mixed with
copper, spent acid, and lime, into an unlined holding basin located
on-site. Other areas of the Site, including but not limited to a bog, a cooling water recharge pond, septic leaching
fields, a sweepings pile, and a small landfill, are also believed to
have been used for the disposal of manufacturing wastes.
From approximately the late 1980s to
2000, the current site owner/operator, Starmet Corporation (Starmet),
performed certain site investigations and a partial cleanup of the
Site under the oversight of the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (MADEP). In 1997, Starmet, with the
financial support of the United States Army,
excavated approximately 8,000 cubic yards of contaminated soils from
the on-site holding basin and disposed of these soils at an off-site
disposal facility licensed to accept low-level radioactive wastes.
During previous investigations starting in the
1980s through the present, by others, soils and
groundwater beneath the Site were found to contain elevated levels of depleted
uranium and elevated levels of beryllium. Past sampling of sediments at the
Site has revealed elevated levels of depleted uranium, copper, and
volatile organic compounds.
Pursuant to Section 105(8)(b)
of CERCLA, 42 U.S.C. 9605(8)(b), the Site was proposed for inclusion
on the National Priorities List (NPL) published by the Administrator
of EPA in the Federal Register on July 27, 2000 (65 Fed. Reg. 46131,
46137). The Site was listed on the NPL on June 14, 2001 (66 Fed. Reg.
32235, 32241).