| Abstract |
The New Bedford site is a harbor area in the port city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, approximately 55 miles south of Boston. Two electrical capacitor manufacturing facilities, the Aerovox facility and the Cornell-Dubilier Electronics facility, are located along the New Bedford Harbor and, were major PCB users from the 1940s to 1978, when EPA banned the use of PCBs. These manufacturers released PCB-contaminated wastewater onto shoreline mudflats and into the harbor. As a result of the widespread PCB contamination, the State closed three fishing areas in the harbor in 1979, resulting in the loss of approximately 18,000 acres of productive lobstering ground. Between 1982 and 1985, EPA and the Coast Guard posted warnings notifying the public of fishing and swimming restrictions. The site has been divided into three study areas which include the Hot Spot area, the Acushnet River Estuary, and the Lower Harbor and Upper Buzzards Bay. This Record of Decision (ROD), the first of two operable units, is an interim remedy and addresses the 5-acre Hot Spot area, located along the western bank of the Acushnet River Estuary adjacent to the Aerovox facility. |
