Norwood PCBs

Overview

The Norwood PCBs site covers 26 acres at 151 Dean Street in Norwood, Massachusetts. It was formerly home to the Grant Gear facility, which made electrical transformers and components using polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the 1940s through the mid-1980s. EPA added the site to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1986 and deleted it in 2011 after cleanup goals were met.

Contaminants found at the site include PCBs and several Aroclor formulations, chlorinated solvents such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane and 1,2-dichloroethane, vinyl chloride, dichlorobenzenes, chloroform, phenol, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the metals silver and zinc. These were detected in soil, groundwater, and sediment, including in nearby Meadow Brook. Before cleanup, direct contact with contaminated soil or sediment posed health risks, and PCBs in the brook may have threatened aquatic life.

Cleanup began with an emergency soil removal in 1983, when high PCB levels were first detected. Between 1996 and 1998, EPA and responsible parties excavated contaminated soil and sediment, demolished the Grant Gear building, and installed soil caps and covers. A groundwater treatment facility operated from 1996 until EPA shut it down in June 2000. The original Record of Decision was issued in September 1989 and amended in May 1996. EPA has since determined that human exposure is under control and that contaminated groundwater is stabilized with no unacceptable discharge to surface water.

The site has been redeveloped for commercial and industrial use. A 56,000 square-foot retail and commercial space opened in 2008, with the asphalt cap thickened to serve as a parking lot. As of December 2024, 20 businesses on the property employ 232 people and generate about $26.7 million in annual sales. Institutional controls remain in place, including zoning restrictions that prohibit residential development. Responsible parties continue annual groundwater monitoring. EPA completed its sixth five-year review in December 2024, confirming the remedy continues to protect public health and the environment.

Community members can review site documents at the Morrill Memorial Library in Norwood or at the EPA Region 1 records center in Boston.