Framingham Mayor To Meet With State Over Mary Dennison Cleanup

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky was set to meet with state officials on Thursday to discuss the ongoing cleanup at Mary Dennison Park, the site of a former dump used by the Avery Dennison Corporation.

Framingham wants to redevelop the entire 15-acre park to add new sports fields, parking and amenities like a splash pad and skateboard course. The city has set aside funds to upgrade the park — and held several community meetings — but is still waiting on approval from the state for cleanup plans to move ahead.

Beginning in 1955, Framingham acquired over 17 acres from Dennison Manufacturing, now Avery Dennison Corp. The town built an athletic complex in 1960 on top of land the manufacturer — and the town — used as a dump and burn pile. In 2014, the town closed the playground at the southern edge of the park due to lead contamination. The state and town cleaned up surface-level contaminated soils around 2015.

Framingham submitted a new plan last year to clean up asbestos at the park, but is still waiting on approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Sisitsky said Senate President Karen Spilka helped arrange a meeting between state environmental officials on Thursday, where Sisitsky plans to bring up the Dennison asbestos plan.

Apart from the park area, Sisitsky told the City Council on Tuesday that contamination has been found at eight properties near the former dump site. There's one remaining property with contamination, but it's underneath the building, so the city is putting a deed restriction on the property rather than pursue a full cleanup.