Groveland Wells

Overview

Groveland Wells is a Superfund site in Groveland, Massachusetts, listed on the National Priorities List (NPL) in September 1983. The site centers on two municipal drinking water wells that once served as the town's sole water source. Both wells were shut down in 1979 after the state detected trichloroethylene (TCE) above safe levels. The main source of contamination was the former Valley Manufacturing Products Company at 64 Washington Street, which operated from 1963 to 2001. The company disposed of hazardous wastes, including cutting oils, mineral spirits, TCE, and acid bath wastes, into buried leach fields and on the ground surface. A leaking underground storage tank also released TCE into the soil and groundwater.

Contamination affected groundwater, soil, sediment, and surface water. EPA identified 39 contaminants of concern across the site. These include volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as TCE, tetrachloroethene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, benzene, and vinyl chloride, as well as metals including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury. The highest soil contamination concentrations were found on the southern part of the Valley property.

Cleanup took place across three areas: sitewide management, groundwater, and soil vapor extraction. EPA built a Groundwater Treatment Facility that started operating in April 2000. From 2000 to 2011, it treated over 4 million gallons of contaminated groundwater and removed more than 1,130 pounds of VOCs. An Electrical Resistance Heating system ran from August 2010 through February 2011, removing over 1,300 pounds of additional VOCs. That system targeted residual TCE in source area soil. The groundwater treatment plant was decommissioned in January 2020. Well #1 is now safe and operational, while Well #2 was permanently abandoned. The town developed a new well in a different aquifer in the early 1980s and now samples its supply wells quarterly to meet Safe Drinking Water standards.

EPA concluded that human exposure is currently under control and that the site poses no unacceptable exposure pathways. Groundwater contamination is stabilized in its original area. The site was deemed ready for reuse in August 2014. Institutional controls remain in place to restrict land uses inconsistent with the cleanup level, such as residential development. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) conducts annual long-term groundwater monitoring. EPA completed its fifth Five Year Review on June 26, 2025.

Community members can get involved by reviewing site records at the Langley-Adams Library at 185 Main Street in Groveland or at the EPA Region 1 Records and Information Center in Boston. Questions about institutional controls or cleanup status can be directed to the EPA staff assigned to the site. The site is scheduled for deletion from the NPL, though that deletion has not yet occurred.