Residents Invited To Open House To Receive Update On EPA’s Olin Investigation & Cleanup On January 21

Below is a press release from the EPA:

WILMINGTON, MA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) will hold an open house to update residents on investigation and cleanup activities at the Olin Chemical Superfund Site in Wilmington on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, from 6pm to 8pm, in the Wilmington High School Library (159 Church Street). Community members are invited to stop by at any point during the two-hour session for updates about ongoing investigation and cleanup activities.

Contact EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Elizabeth McCarthy at 617-918-1136 or mccarthy.elizabeth@epa.gov with any questions about the Open House.

Some Background on the Olin Site:

The site includes the former Olin property at 51 Eames Street in Wilmington and the surrounding areas that have been impacted by contaminant releases from manufacturing and waste disposal activities formerly conducted at the Eames Street property.

Chemical manufacturing by a series of owners and operators began at the Eames Street property in 1953 and continued until the facility closed in 1986. Olin Corporation purchased the property in 1980. The facility was used to produce blowing agents, stabilizers, antioxidants, and other specialty chemicals for the rubber and plastics industries. Prior to the early 1970s, chemicals were discharged into several unlined pits and ponds in the central portion of the property, and later even when lined lagoons were used, leaks in the liners resulted in additional releases of fluids. As the liquid materials moved downward through the soil, they reached the groundwater table. Because the liquids were denser than water, they continued to sink downward (as dense aqueous phase liquid or “DAPL”), pooling in a series of cascading depressions on the bedrock surface.

Ultimately, contaminated groundwater migrated nearly a mile to the west and northwest of the Eames Street property and resulted in the Town of Wilmington placing its municipal drinking water supply wells in the Maple Meadow Brook aquifer off-line due to contamination from the site. Due to the contamination, the Town shifted its water source to four wells located outside of the area impacted by the Site. Olin and the other Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) subsequently funded construction of a new pipeline extension to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The constructed pipeline has been in operation since 2008.

Cleanup Activities and Ongoing Investigations

The cleanup plan for the site was selected by EPA in 2021 and includes interim actions to remove ongoing sources of contamination in groundwater and final cleanup actions for addressing contaminated soil, sediments, and surface water at the site. In May 2023, EPA announced a proposed Consent Decree with four of the PRPs for the site. Under the agreement, American Biltrite Inc., NOR-AM Agro, LLC, Olin Corporation, and Stepan Company agreed to address the contamination, with Olin taking the lead in performing the cleanup. A public comment period followed, and EPA, MassDEP, and the U.S. Department of Justice reviewed and formally responded to the comments that were received. The Consent Decree was approved by the federal judicial court in in September 2023.

In March 2025, EPA and MassDEP approved Olin’s work plans to collect the additional data necessary to design the soil and groundwater cleanup systems. These work plans are for the soil contamination on the Eames Street property and the pools of DAPL and groundwater hot spots. Olin collected soil samples from March to October and submitted a report to EPA this month of the soil investigation results. Drilling and installation of wells for the groundwater cleanup began in August and testing of wells is ongoing.

In parallel to the cleanup, studies are ongoing under a separate 2007 EPA settlement agreement to improve the characterization of the bedrock and further define the extent of groundwater contamination. These studies will be used to evaluate long-term groundwater cleanup options, leading to the selection in the future of a final cleanup plan for groundwater. In the near term, these aquifer studies will help identify the best places to locate groundwater extraction wells for the cleanup.

Visit: www.epa.gov/superfund/olin for more information about the site.