BOXFORD — The town Board of Health this morning condemned and barricaded off a MassHighway salt shed, saying pollution from it presents an ongoing threat to town residents.
Town officials said they would later today file a four-pronged lawsuit against two state agencies to stop the pollution that's contaminated 37 wells. The Jersey barriers were installed a day after the town read MassHighway's refusal to follow a cease-and-desist order at the Topsfield Road site.
"We don't take this action lightly," said Charles Costello, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. "It's very expensive to bring a lawsuit against MassHighway. We just don't see any other option. This has been a problem for 15 years."
Costello said a MassHighway engineer wrote in the mid-1990s that the salt pollution could contaminate 200 wells.
Dick Taylor, the chairman of the Board of Health, said he's worried the salt plume could reach the Andrews Farm development, which has 53 homes fed from a single water supply. That could at once more than double the number of homes with salty water, which can hurt people with high blood pressure or heart problems. Taylor said high salt intake can also cause ulcers, osteoporosis, stomach cancer, edema and heartburn, as well as simply irritate the skin during baths and showers.
"One part of the lawsuit is to force MassHighway to obey the cease-and-desist (order)," Taylor said. "The other is to force MassHighway to follow our regulations, and two parts are to force the Department of Environmental Protection to enforce the laws against MassHighway."
In a letter received Tuesday by Boxford officials, MassHighway said the town couldn't close the salt shed because when that agency is trying to ensure safe public travel on roads, "MassHighway is not subject to local regulation," wrote General Counsel Monica Conyngham. "MassHighway can not cease operations at this facility, as it would seriously jeopardise our ability to maintain safe travel conditions on Interstate 95 and its ramp systems."
Taylor said earlier efforts to get state agencies to force MassHighway to stop illegally polluting failed.
"We've been ignored by the governor, and we've gotten no response from the attorney general or the Department of Environmental Protection," Taylor said.
At noon, Costello agreed to let MassHighway temporarily move the Jersey barriers to pull out several vehicles, including a street sweeper, from the complex. Costello guessed that MassHighway would need a court order to remove the barriers.
Taylor said he didn't know whether the lawsuit, to be filed by Mark Reich of Kopelman and Paige, would succeed.
"We have no idea. We're taking on the state," he said.
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