DEP: No Dangerous Discharge During GCC Cleanup Pilot

Tuesday night's pilot cleanup at the former General Chemical site was carried out without any elevated levels of air pollution or health threats to the neighborhood, state officials said Wednesday.  

While results from the pilot aren't due to the agency until July 13, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman Joe Ferson said Wednesday that real-time monitoring tests showed no air pollution above safe levels. 

"Mass DEP was there to monitor the test and samples were collected looking for a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants at various upwind and downwind locations," Ferson said. "No readings above safe levels were recorded."

The pilot test focused one storage tank and one bulding at GCC's facility and results will help determine what methods will be utilized to remove chemical residue from the property, Ferson added. 

The DEP had issued a notice warning residents of the area to stay indoors Tuesday night, keep doors and windows closed and not allow children to use the playground at Wilson Elementary School, while General Chemical tests cleaning techniques.

Told that members of FACES, , claimed the Framingham Board of Health was denied access to the cleanup activity on Tuesday night, Ferson said: "You'll have to ask the Board of Health about that." 

Calls to Framingham Director of Public Health Ethan Mascoop were not immediately returned.

General Chemical announced earlier this year it would cease operations and close, but .