WRTA getting $3M for brownfield cleanup

Courtesy WRTA This rendering shows the WRTA's planned new facility.

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By Sam Bonacci

In the ongoing saga of the cleanup of the contaminated location of the new maintenance facility site for the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA), it was announced Thursday that the state will be contributing an additional $3 million towards decontaminating the site.

The new funds will be used to decontaminate the WRTA site at 42 Quinsigamond Ave. that was originally purchased in 2014 from Eversource (formerly NSTAR). The property was once the site of a manufactured gas plant and has been recognized as having significant deposits of toxic chemicals including cyanide and coal tar sludge, according to the offices of Senator Michael O. Moore (D-Millbury) and Representative Daniel M. Donahue (D-Worcester) that helped secure the latest round of funding.

To date, approximately $16 million has been spent on cleanup at the site. However, the later discovery of unreported underground tanks possessing grossly contaminated petroleum soils, and the presence of asbestos, have led to unforeseen cleanup expenses totaling millions of additional dollars. The WRTA had previously placed this figure at an additional $4 million required for cleanup. This additional funding will help move the project towards completion, according to Moore.

Construction of the WRTA facility, which is to serve as a maintenance and operations building, is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed by July of this year.