Letter To Board of Selectman On Bike Path

Open Letter to the Stoneham Board of Selectmen:

An invitation was extended to me to attend the Stoneham Bike Path Committee meeting on Tuesday, March 21’st from the Assistant Town Administrator via emails which included the Mass DOT. Upon entering the meeting I was directed to leave immediately by Dolly Wilson, Chairwoman of the Bike Path Committee. She stated the meeting was private and not open to the public. I believe in order to hold a meeting in Executive Session a public notice must be published prior to the meeting being held. I was not aware of any such Executive session notice. I stated that I was invited by Mass DOT as well as the Assistant Town Administrator but Dolly Wilson, the Chairwoman insisted I leave. I simply wanted a moment to address my concerns regarding the excavation of the Bike Path and the impact it may have with regards to my property and the contaminants migrating down gradient. I respectfully left the meeting however I feel strongly I was denied the right to be heard.

I followed up with an email to the Town Administrator and attempted to meet with him the next day. I am concerned about the existing railroad right of way contamination flowing down hill to my property and what plans are proposed to clean it. Soil testing is currently being performed on my property by a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) who has discovered new soil samples which will be tested. I have made several inquiries over the past two years with no replies, nor has any information been provided with regards to the work to be performed at the site. Why has this been kept a secret? Why are these meetings not open to the public or at least those who stand to be significantly impacted? 90 Maple Street is adversely affected by contaminants migrating down gradient from this MBTA Right of Way.

I think this project must address these contamination concerns in public meetings since no one is disclosing the nature of the onsite contaminants. The evidence that I have submitted concerning soil contamination has not been discussed or investigated.

1. All the records of the Stoneham Tank Farm have not been made public.
2. Soil testing on the bike path was planned to be performed in 2015 by the Bike Path Engineer, but has not been reported. It is required by law to report contamination within 120 days of discovering it. Evidence of testing was done in Sept of 2015, (18 months ago) by FS&T Engineering, but it is not reported to the State DEP as required by every property owner.
3. The contamination that currently exists on the Bike Path involves high volumes of contamination from the Stoneham Tank Farm which must be addressed by law.
4. The full soil testing which has been requested has not been performed to my knowledge. If excavation is performed it may well encounter and/or disturb this contamination. I am unaware that there is any plan in place to address this potential problem since I have not received any response to my inquiries in this regard, and I have been denied access both to information and recently the Bike Path Committee meeting.

It is completely wrong to disrespect neighbors, the town, and the laws dealing with hazardous waste materials. In 1986 it was revealed that the State and the Town of Stoneham had knowledge of this contamination (Stoneham Independent: Jan 8, 1986) for at least 5 years without telling the neighbors. This situation must be openly discussed and not suppressed. The impact of altering the land next to the Stoneham Tank Farm has the potential to create major problems for down gradient neighbors and water sources.

My property is on the DEP file reporting system from the contamination produced by the Stoneham Tank Farm, and my property was cleaned in accordance with DEP rules and regulations in 1999. I am very concerned since my property is down gradient from the former tank farm site, that my property could be contaminated again from the soil disturbance caused by the proposed construction.

In light of the foregoing, I respectfully request to see the full test results, the plans for the bike path construction, and the protection planned for the down gradient neighbors.

Sincerely,

Dale Halchak, Pres.
Halchak Corp.
90 Maple St
Stoneham, Ma 02180