Wellesley College Haz-Mat site

Index to Lake Waban Environmental Issues

• Is it safe to swim and fish?
  
• Lead Chromate Hazards
  
• Hexavalent Chromium Hazards and Natick's Morse Pond drinking water well
  
• Was Waste Sent to Natick?
  
• Lake Waban branch of CSX Railroad
  
• Morse's Pond Beach Contamination
  
• Lead contamination spreads to Elm Bank water wells
  
• Imminent Hazard Discovery for lead exposure
  
• Wellesley College Factory Photo's
• Read Wellesley College's side of the story. updated 9/2006

Clean up continues

Paint Shop Pond has been drained, refilled, and the lead-containing sediments landfilled onsite. The area has been landscaped to restore wetlands lost during remediation, and to reduce human contact with contaminated material. The remediated area is now a marsh, boardwalk, and recreation area. Newcomers would barely recognize the former wastesite.

Some elevated lead levels still exist outside the Wellesley College property. Two soil samples were collected West of the campus nearest the pond. The highest lead level of the two was found in soils along the public sidewalk.

The August 2004 test results showed 360 parts per million lead in soil on the Paint Shop Pond side of Rte. 135 (near Pond Street) vs. 140 ppm on the railroad side in similar soils. Both samples were collected identical distances from the roadway surface to normalize the effects of historic leaded gasoline use. The sample exceeds the Massachusetts "S1" soil standard of 300 ppm.

Below - 2500 x mag. photomicrograph of Lead and Chromate particles.

Analysis of a surface soil collected just southeast of paintshop pond. Element detected Amount in ppm mg/Kg Barium 36,410 Cadmium 95 Chromium 4,175 Hafnium 58 Lead 22,370 Strontium 535 Sulfur 5,160 Tin 208 Titanium 189 Zinc 444 Zirconium 1961

Paints, Lead Smelter and Brick Factory

Under the quiet lakeside campus of Wellesley College sits the former Henry Wood's Sons Color Company site. The company was a manufacturer of paints and pigments. The factory had its own lead smelter. The photo at above right is a micrograph of soil particles from the jogging trail around Lake Waban. The round lead particle pictured in the lower left corner of the photo is a classic metal aerosol particulate, probably from the old smelter. The yellow blob at the center is a lead chromate crystal. Another lead sphere and some barite crytals are at the upper right. The uncommon element hafnium found is an impurity in zirconium-containing pigments.

This site contains some of the most concentrated toxic metal and cyanide wastes found in Massachusetts. Contaminants have spread both upstream and downstream of the original site to include an area measuring 1.5 miles long which affect Wellesley, Natick, and Dover. The site drains into State-owned Lake Waban via Waban Brook. The lake then drains via a small brook into the Charles River, joining the river a few feet upstream of Natick's drinking water wells. Henry Wood's Sons' Brick Factory was also on the western shore of Morses Pond, where Natick currently has a drinking water well.

The factory, which was built in 1848 was abandoned in 1917. It was heavily damaged by fire in the 1870's and again in 1905. Major cleanup of the site occurred in 2001.

Lake Waban and Lower Waban Brook contaminated by lead

After a limited cleanup in the late 1980's, brightly colored and toxic soils still pockmarked paths and pond sediments. Waban Brook's sediments contained up to 4.6 % lead at depths of about 6 inches. The same area contains up to 2 % chromium, as well as some arsenic, barium, nickel, zinc, and cyanide. Soils around Paint Shop Pond contain up 11 % total chromium and 21 % lead. Groundwaters under the site contain up to 12,500 parts per billion Chromium (VI), the environmentally rare but highly toxic and carcinogenic form of chromium.

In 1999 studies have found lead levels up to 71,000 ppm (7.1 %) in lake sediments. Groundwater contamination reached as far north as State Route 135, including sediments in many areas of Lake Waban itself. Some areas of the lake remain unsuitable for swimming because of lead in sediments. Lower Waban Brook (South of Washington St. - Route 16) is also contaminated by lead, arsenic, and chromium, and is unsafe for all uses, including hiking. The Lake and Brook waters show only very limited levels of toxic metals.

Lead Chromate Hazards

Lead chromate is a Carcinogen (causes cancer, in this case lung and kidney cancer) Developmental toxicant (defined as inducing structural malformations and other birth defects, low birth weight, metabolic or biological dysfunction, and psychological or behavioral deficits that become manifest as the child grows). Reproductive toxicant (causes adverse effects on the male and female reproductive systems). Below and right: Lake Waban with Wellesley College in the background.

Some tests performed in the past for chromium (VI) are unreliable. This test is often falsely negative because of the extremely low solubility of lead chromate in water or acid. Actual chromium (VI) at the site may be higher than reported. December 1999 test results use the same Xray technique used by this author and are more reliable.

(see: Environ. Sci. Technol., 31 (2), 390-394, 1997 Extraction of Sparingly Soluble Chromate from Soils: Evaluation of Methods and Eh-pH Effects by Rock J. Vitale,(P.I.) George R. Mussoline, and Kelly A. Rinehimer, showed superior extraction results using 0.28 M Na2CO3/0.5 M NaOH; pH 11.8)

Hexavalent Chromium Hazards

The hexavalent (carcinogenic) form of chromium is the primary groundwater contaminant on the site. Levels of this chemical are at 12,500 ppb which is many hundreds of times higher than the drinking water standard. Coincidentally this level is about 25 times higher than the one featured in the movie, Erin Brockovich. In the movie hexavalent chromium was correctly identified as causing everything from nosebleeds to cancer. The highest levels at this site are found in a monitoring well on Morses Pond which is only 1/3 of a mile from Natick's Morses Pond drinking water well. The chemical exists as calcium chromate, which is about 3 million times more water soluble than lead chromate. A 9/18/2000 test of Natick's Morses Pond well found no chromate, with a detection limit of 10 ppb. Chromate will be tested quarterly at this well from now on.

Are fish safe to eat?

Recent reports detail potential hazards from lead exposure from consuming lake sediments. In a few areas there is the potential to stir up lead-bearing muck from deeper (more than 50 feet offshore) locations. Accidently consuming water made cloudy by these sediments could lead to excessive lead intake, which is a major hazard to small children. Swimming in designated areas has been found to be well within normal safety guidelines.

Fish studies show limited contamination but personally I'd rather eat nails than fish from Paint Shop Pond. 1930's era newspaper reports mention items such as a local farmwife's geese being killed when rains carried pigments into a nearby stream. Fish today might bioacumulate toxins in their flesh. The MADEP has conducted a study on the health of Lake Waban. You can email Engineer Stephen Johnson for more information.

Landowners in any of these areas are invited to submit a sample for a no-cost microscopic analysis.

Morse's Pond Culvert Contamination

The culvert at Morse's Pond just upstream of Paint Shop Pond is also contains waste pigments from the former paint factory. This culvert is just east of the Natick/Wellesley town lines on State Route 135, and immediately eastward of the Bacon Street/MBTA underpass. The culvert drains Morses Pond into Paint Shop Pond. The water quality is only slightly impacted, but the impacts on sediments were severe.

These wastes are very high in chromium and the cancer-causing hexavalent chromium. Lead levels are elevated, but many spots with elevated chromium have little lead or barium present. This points out the danger of using only lead as an indicator of Paint Shop Pond wastes. The site was discovered by MADEP personnel who saw the characteristic green colored soils which accompany the paint wastes.

The MBTA has been named as a responsible party, however the MADEP has had to perform much of the investigative work, since the MBTA denies having legal responsibility under Massachusetts law. (See April 1998 Morses Pond Culvert Phase I Investigation) Although high chromium and other toxin levels are found on the adjacent Bacon Street residence, the MADEP had not sent the homeowner a Notice of Responsibility, nor has it tried to recover any cleanup, control, or investigative costs from the homeowners. The home site belonged to Mr. Edmund M. Wood in 1901.

An imminent hazard exists at this site due to the presence of high chromium concentrations in the soils. Some hexavalent chromium levels are at 29,000 mg/Kg (2.9 %), chromium levels exceed 129,000 mg/Kg (12.9 %); cyanides (up to 550 mg/Kg) and lead (up to 12,400 mg/Kg) are also present. In fact, these concentrations are higher than those found at the original Henry Woods site itself.

The Town of Wellesley Beach/Parkland contains up to 6,400 mg/Kg chromium and 99 mg/Kg hexavalent chromium. The Morses Pond shoreline sediments contain up to 13,500 mg/Kg chromium, as well as a 262 mg/Kg of hexavalent chromium. Arsenic and slightly elevated lead levels are also present. Once again, this is evidence that the absence of lead alone does not mean that the paint shop wastes are also absent.

The Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection's Release Tracking Number (MADEP RTN) for the Morses Pond site is 3-11653. More historical and current information is available for review at the MADEP office in Wilmington. A copy of the file is in the Wellesley Town Library.

Wellesley College released a report on March 10, 1998 showing that there may be certain risks associated with recreational uses of the northern boat mooring area and western cove area closest to the outlet of Waban Brook. The report details unacceptably high risks of exposure to lead especially for small children. The route of exposure is from consuming murky water containing particles of lake bottom sediments. The medical result would be lead poisoning, defined as blood lead levels exceeding 10 ug/deciliter.

Areas near the outlet of Waban Brook (which drains the former paint factory) and containing fine organic rich sediments have the highest amounts of lead, chromium, arsenic, and other metals. Sandy areas and ares on the east and south ends of the lake have much lower levels. The imminent hazard is possible to those who use the lake more than 11 times in a year and who ingest a small mouthful of water each time. No imminent hazard exists to swimmers in other parts of the lake, although deeper sediments (greater than 50 feet from shore) throughout the lake show at least some signs of contamination.

The College plans on moving the boat mooring area, closing a portion of the lake to swimming, and isolating certain contaminated areas with plantings. Dangerous areas will be posted. Swimmers in designated bathing areas should not be affected. For more information contact: Steven Johnson, Regional Engineer, Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection at 781 932 7710.