I-Team: Chelsea residents outraged over toxic waste dumped near homes
CHELSEA - Chelsea residents gathered Wednesday evening to get answers about the state's dumping of a pile of rubble filled with asbestos. The state is cleaning up the debris after the I-Team's report.
Residents living in a nearby public housing development are still worried about their health.
The debris was dumped by MassDOT behind Chelsea Housing Authority homes.
Weeks ago, an I-Team investigation uncovered that MassDOT trucked the soil and debris in from a bridge project on the Lynn-Saugus line. The state left it uncovered for nearly a year.
When the I-Team found it, the pile had danger signs around it. Chelsea officials said they had no idea it was there.
The investigation sparked community outrage and demands that the state remove the pile immediately. That work is now underway with crews dressed in hazmat suits loading up trucks and taking precautions to safely move the asbestos.
Concerned about the health of nearby residents, the city tested homes and set up an ongoing air monitoring program. The state says it is monitoring the air at the site during the removal as well. So far, the results do not show any significant levels of asbestos.
Residents are still angry calling what the state did environmental racism.
"Even if we find that the air quality results were fine, this is still toxic waste," said Rosanne Bongiovanni, executive director of Green Roots an environmental justice community group. "This isn't just construction debris; this is toxic waste. There are special laws for handling this material and yet the state violated all of those laws."