March 31, 2020 - Rail Trail Update

The cleanup of the PCB-contaminated soils in the fenced-off portion of the old rail corridor along the Merrimack River shoreline behind the Wastewater Treatment Facility is ongoing.  PCB’s are (to some extent) similar to a virus, in that we cannot see, touch, hear, or taste them, but they are there and a threat to public health and we must take certain measures to address them.  Previously, towards the end of last year, we had optimistically hoped that one round of excavation would be sufficient to allow for the corridor to be safely opened up for informal public use.  Unfortunately, post-excavation sampling and laboratory analysis identified remaining contaminated soil that required a second mobilization of the contractor to excavate a smaller area and dispose of the soil.  The subsequent sampling and analysis after this second phase of work identified a couple of remaining pockets of contamination adjacent to the underground electric concrete duct bank and adjacent to the rip rap.  The process is slow and iterative.  We are approaching the point where it will not be feasible to conduct any more excavation adjacent to the underground electric lines.  The City’s consultants are currently negotiating with DEP and EPA as to whether they will require us to continue trying to excavate in proximity to the duct bank, particularly given that the end result will be the same of backfilling with at least two feet of clean fill, imposing an Activity and Use Limitation, and then rebuilding the sloped stone revetment and elevated berm with an additional five feet of fill as part of the next construction project.  The area will continue to be closed off to the public until we are able to resolve the situation.  Please know that we are working on it every day.

In the meantime, the City is moving ahead with the planning and permitting for the Shoreline Resiliency: Protection of Critical Infrastructure and Clipper City Rail Trail project.  We received an additional grant to support this work along with the PCB remediation from the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) program of $71,160.  The City’s consultants have developed 25% Design plans for the revetment and berm and trail, and we have submitted an Environmental Notification Form (ENF) to the state’s Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office.  We have also requested a request for an Amendment to the existing Order of Conditions (OOC) from the Newburyport Conservation Commission.  Once these two processes have unfolded – hopefully in April – we will be in a position to submit a Chapter 91 License application to the state, which is anticipated to take 6-9 months for processing.  There is also some additional federal and state permitting that we will pursue later this year.  We hope to complete permitting and design by the end of 2020.  We are seeking construction funding, and hope to build the project in 2021.

rail corridor along river