Clean would like to thank all who attended and contributed to the March 10th meeting at the Keith Middle school. It is a testament to the power and resources this city is capable of.
We are hopeful that citizens, businesses, homeowners alike, consider the past year and a half of continuous activities directly related to the 140 plus acres of highly toxic, contaminated, toxic waste referred to as the Parker Street Dump site.
Clean petitioned Lisa Jackson, National E.P.A. Administrator to step in and take over the "Parker Street Dump" as some citizens felt that the site was not getting the attention it deserved.
Not only did Lisa Jackson listen to our concerns but she also provided us with some of the best resources the E.P.A. has available to them. This is to include the members of the E.P.A. who were tasked with such a complex problem.
Region 1's Assistant Regional Administrator Ira Leighton as well as the region's administrator, Curt Spauldings appearance shows the community that this is not just a problem on someones desk. These men are ensuring that the boundary's are found, and the results gathered will protect our residents and especially all who attend the New Bedford High school and Keith Middle School, as well as Teachers and other school officials who visit the site.
E.PA's Steve Novac, Marcus Holmes, Wing Chau could not be better choices when addressing and attacking sites of this nature. Clean believes the data these men will collect in the middle of April will be correctly sampled so that it only has to be done once. We applaud Lisa Jackson's commitment to the Parker Street Waste Site. Clean also would like to thank the local D.E.P. office for working with the city and E.P.A. in there continuous rolls in the assessment and clean up.
Clean and its advisers have a seat at the table to bring our concerns up and as a group, all of us have in some way worked through them or at least have identified them to be discussed at a later date.
A year ago the community had no hope, no knowledge and above all no trust, the actions of all people who are involved in addressing the site and working towards the same goal, has in the past year become tangible, and real.
We as a community have moved mountains, Clean is confident the E.P.A. will clearly define the site and its characteristics, The community knowledge of the site just in the past year has been tremendous. Some children even know enough not to play in the water that happens to be across the street. The type of education is in the beginning process and it is growing. Clean has developed a special trust and relationships with the right people, Steve Fishbach and Reverend Curtis Dias representing the NAACP have contributed to this community in positive and protective ways that have the residents health in mind.
The guidance and resources these men share with the community is deeply appreciated. Clean has also received superb technical knowledge provided by our Licensed Site Professionals (LSP).Terry Bogoski and Ian Phillips. These two independent L,S,P's work together to over see the E.P.A as well as the D.E.P. in-order to make sure every process will be followed and the community will be a safe and clean area in the future. This is the ground work for a lot of work yet to be done to totally make sure the area is safe for all.
Clean hopes the community becomes more involved with the site, as its our neighbors, children and our teachers who attend and work at New Bedford High School and Keith Middle School, with both students and neighborhood youth playing on these contaminated fields and some who even live across the street.
CLEAN is encouraged with the positive progress made in the past year, and if that is any indication of what a group of individuals can do together, then the end of final clean up will be well within our life time.
CLEAN is made up of some incredible people, all of whom have unselfishly donated there own time, money, and resources for one common goal. Cleans operating budget is 0 dollars. A true testament to our group. We as a group have and will continue to work hard for all who live around or attend schools located on the 140 plus acres of Contaminated Toxic Waste Dump Site known as the Parker Street Burn Dump. Clean is honored to represent the great city of New Bedford.
Tom Derosier
Vice President
C.L.E.A.N
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