Development

Cambridge's asbestos field

by Laura A. Siegel

In tiny Libby, Montana, hundreds of people are dying of slow strangulation and cancer from exposure to tremolite, an especially lethal type of asbestos. The tremolite came from a mine run by W.R. Grace. And Grace might have brought tremolite to Cambridge.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is here to find out. But neighbors are worried that they won't do the right tests -- or that Grace won't let them.

When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer broke the Libby story this past winter, the EPA began investigating Grace sites across the country. The Cambridge Grace site, at 62 Whittemore Avenue, had housed the headquarters for products made from the ores mined in Libby. Right by the Alewife T stop and the Minuteman Bike Trail, the site is now a 27-acre stretch of fields, parking lots, and the worldwide headquarters of Grace Performance Chemicals -- with a playing field next door.

Tests have shown that the site contains anywhere from 600,000 to 1.2 million pounds of asbestos. But those tests wouldn't have detected the type of tremolite found in Libby. Worried, the Alewife Study Group (ASG) -- a neighbors' group that has pushed for more testing for years -- tested 12 soil samples specifically for the tremolite this spring. Four came back positive. However, according to a Grace spokesperson, "the site has been extensively sampled and there is no evidence of the Libby-type tremolite asbestos."

Tremolite poses little danger if it stays underground. But if building begins, it would be stirred up, exposing anyone in the vicinity who breathes. Grace had planned to build a hotel and office complex on the site. In June, under neighborhood pressure, the company postponed building -- for now. "We cannot forever give up the right to development on the site since we have a responsibility to maintain the value of the property," explains Grace in a press release. Says Lisa Birk, an ASG member: "If that soil is dug up, I won't live in my house."

And many may already have been exposed. When the T dug the tunnel out to Alewife in the 1980s, it dug right through the Grace site, with no protection for workers or neighbors.

The EPA will begin testing in September. The Alewife group wants the EPA to do the special tests that would detect Libby tremolite -- which it hasn't committed to. They also want the agency to test deeper than the three inches it has proposed, since construction would stir up deeper soil.

And even if the EPA finds no imminent hazard now, the ASG wants it to note that if Grace builds on the site, it will become dangerous. Last November, the Cambridge City Council passed an ordinance requiring protection measures when building on asbestos-contaminated sites. But if Grace can claim the site poses no imminent hazard, it could avoid taking those expensive measures -- and put everyone in danger.

Last week, Grace bought up its old mine in Libby and barred the EPA from testing at all. The company says it won't do that in Cambridge. Let's hope it keeps its word.