West Street Junkyard Being Cleaned in Georgetown

The Georgetown Record reported that the Georgetown Conservation Commission has permitted site developer Richard Morello to clean out Tidd’s junkyard on Water Street, deciding that the dioxin levels in the dirt were finally low enough to be acceptable for disposal at in-state landfill sites. Years ago a huge tire fire erupted at Tidd’s junkyard, and contaminants from that fire are still in one of the site’s several hotspots.

Morello is the 3rd developer since the late 1990s to take on the controversial site, which is close to Georgetown’s water supply. He plans to construct 16 condos for active seniors in Zone 2, which includes Georgetown’s wells. Slowly over the years, through contentious hearings, developers have moved closer to something acceptable to abutters and to the town. Currently, the project is still in the complicated cleanup phase. According to Georgetown Conservation Agent Steve Przyjemski, the state Department of Environmental Protection is not going to allow the issuance of an Order of Conditions to the developer until it gets all the samples it is requesting from the site. The DEP is requiring the developer to continue testing dirt in a circle radiating outwards from the original tire fire site until the dirt samples come up clean of contaminants.

Read the entire Georgetown Record article.