GREENFIELD — With the first Lunt Silversmiths Public Involvement Plan (PIP) meeting in two years, the Lunt Neighborhood Action Group reaffirmed its priorities, particularly in regard to accelerating cleanup of the site, as well as announcing the Board of Health will assist in the plan’s implementation.

The main order of business Wednesday evening was bringing folks back up to speed with the current status of the property at 298 Federal St., and laying out the Lunt Neighborhood Action Group and the Board of Health’s plan to continue the site cleanup, a process that began in 2012 when trichlorethylene (TCE) contamination was found. TCE is a synthetic solvent that can cause adverse health effects including cancer, developmental and neurological effects, and liver toxicity, according to the EPA.

Board of Health Chair Glen Ayers, who served as one of the leaders of the neighborhood group prior to his appointment to the board, said the board’s goal is to review the PIP with the community group and continue to seek funding sources for the environmental cleanup.

“Overall, we want this project to be accelerated as much as feasible,” Ayers said. “Realistically, nothing is going to happen at this site without money; that’s just the bottom line. It’s going to take a lot of money and we’re going to need to find that money to do a proper assessment and cleanup.”

The Board of Health and Lunt Neighborhood Action Group will seek both state and federal grants and can also look into additional legislation, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, and legislative earmarks to avoid using residents’ money.

“This contamination was not caused by the citizens of Greenfield, at least not the current citizens,” Ayers said, emphasizing “it should not be the taxpayers of Greenfield” who have to shoulder this financial burden.

Additionally, the Board of Health voted Wednesday, at Mayor Ginny Desorgher’s request, to oversee the implementation of the PIP on an ongoing basis.

“Previously, the Board of Health and Health Department played no role in addressing the cleanup of the Lunt site,” Ayers wrote in a follow-up email Thursday. “But now the board will be very involved, which is entirely appropriate, as we are really dealing with impacts to public health.”

Susan Worgaftik, vice president of the Lunt Neighborhood Action Group, noted the cooperation of the Board of Health will be important to seeing this process through.

“We now have a way to work with the city through the board and that will move the process forward and we can go to the Board of Health with questions we have, for issues that we have and we can follow through,” Worgaftik said. “We’re going to get progress happening.”

In bringing people back up to speed, Ayers said the state Department of Environmental Protection typically lays out a six-year timeline for cleanups such as this and Greenfield has been behind the curve since the discovery of TCE 12 years ago.

Concern about the status of the site’s environmental cleanup was raised in October 2021 when the property was brought before City Council to declare it as surplus and authorize a sale by the mayor.

The Lunt Neighborhood Action Group nonprofit was subsequently formed in September 2022 with the intention of hiring an independent licensed site professional, citing a lack of trust in the work completed by LSP Bruce Nickelsen and O’Reilly, Talbot & Okun (OTO). Prior to that, the state Department of Environmental Protection designated the property as a Public Involvement Plan, or PIP, site. Nickelsen retired from the role in January and a representative from OTO was in attendance Wednesday.

Through a $20,000 MassDEP grant, which was renewed by the agency again this week, the Lunt Neighborhood Action Group was able to bring on Lyons Witten, an independent LSP. With the grant’s renewal, Witten is expected to continue his work through at least a portion of 2025, according to Worgaftik.

In updating folks on the status of the site, Witten said the most recent data shows TCE levels in areas on the northwestern side of the property have decreased at the surface, but a deep well showed a TCE concentration of 10,000 parts per billion.

“On the surface, that’s great … but when you look at the deep well, all of a sudden you can say, ‘Oh, that’s where it went,’” Witten said, adding that chlorinated solvents, like TCE, are heavier than water and will sink in the water table. “It would appear the TCE is spreading slightly to the west. I wouldn’t say that’s shocking, alarming or worrisome. … W site like this, where contaminants sit for a long time, things are going to spread out.”

Witten noted there should be “no reason” for contamination concerns around the ballfields behind the property, but people’s yards in the neighborhood, particularly in the case of folks interested in gardening, should be addressed on a lot-by-lot basis.

As the city and neighborhood group redouble their efforts on cleaning up Lunt, Worgaftik and Ayers said they will aim for monthly meetings, with the March meeting focused on revising the PIP plan and scope of work.

“We want to make sure that anyone visiting the facility and no one in that neighborhood is exposed to hazardous waste,” Ayers said. “Zero exposure should be the goal. The public should not be exposed to uncontrolled emissions of toxic materials.”

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.