Concord Oil Company Penalized $10,000 for Waste Site Cleanup Violations 
Company Agrees to Replace Oil Feeder Pipes in at least 50 Homes

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized Concord Oil Company $10,000 for violations during the cleanup its property at 356 Boston Post Road in Wayland. To mitigate the violations, the company will replace oil feeder lines in at least 50 homes.

Petroleum contamination was initially discovered at this site in 1998, when three underground oil tanks were removed. In June 2006, MassDEP received documentation from the company demonstrating that successful cleanup measures had been taken at the site, effectively closing out the need for further action. 

However, in September 2006, additional work was done at this site, including the removal of 250 cubic yards of soil, and removal of four additional underground oil storage tanks. These actions were undertaken by Concord Oil without the required notification to MassDEP.

"Oil companies need to be especially attentive to the regulations covering the notification and proper cleanup of oil and hazardous materials," said Richard Chalpin, director of MassDEP's Northeast Regional Office in Wilmington. "This condition was clearly outside the earlier delineated area, and therefore, represented a new release condition."

MassDEP has since determined that while Concord Oil safely disposed of the four underground storage tanks, as well as the 250 cubic yards of soil it removed, the company acted without proper notification and oversight.

Under a consent order signed with MassDEP, Concord Oil has agreed to a $10,000 penalty and to submit documentation involving those past cleanup actions taken at the site. The company also agreed to submit required notifications prior to conducting additional cleanup actions.

MassDEP has agreed, that as an alternative to paying a $10,000 penalty to the Commonwealth, Concord Oil will instead implement a MassDEP-authorized Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP). Under this SEP, at least 50 customers will have their current copper oil feed lines connecting their oil tanks to their boilers replaced at no charge with double-walled feed lines.

The company has agreed to make reasonable efforts to perform the work in homes owned by an elderly person or residents located in communities which have been identified as Environmental Justice communities. 
  
EJ areas are those that include many densely populated urban neighborhoods in and around the state's oldest industrial sites. These neighborhoods encompass only a small portion of the land area of the Commonwealth (less than 5 percent), but they are home to a large percentage of the state's population (nearly 29 percent). 

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