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Mike Dei'and Regional Administrator Environmental Protection AgencyJ, F. Kennedy BuildingBoston, Massachusetts 02203

Dear Mike:

I have been contacted by the Selectmen of Barrington,New Hampshire, who are extremely concerned about the Tibbetts Road Hazardous Waste Site. I understand that the State of New ~ampshire has completed a detailed hydrogeological investi­gation and that a copy of the report is now being reviewed by your staff.

The report indicates that the number of adversely affected residential wells has increased from one to six since January of 1984. Equally disconcerting is that soil investigations reveal PCB contamination and large concentrations of volatile organicsin the vicinity of three former drum storage areas.

State environmental and public health officials conclude that additional residential wells are in jeopardy and that the contaminated soil will continue to act as a source of ground­water contamination. The Selectmen also inform me that the plume of contaminated groundwater is migrating toward Swain's Lake, which drains into the Bellamy Reservoir, and suppliesdrinking water to Dover, New Hampshire.

Much has been written lately about the effectiveness of the Superfund Program, and I was taken recently by the comments of Joel Hirschorn, OTA. He said that EPA too often pursueslong, expensive and often ineffective long-te1111 cleanups at only a few sites when, in fact, EPA should divert more resources from long term efforts into more numerous, less expensive, im­mediate cleanups. Although I don't agree with all of Mr. Hirschorn's conclusions, he makes a gooJ point that emergencyaction should be taken at many sites to stop the spread of groundwater contamination. I believe that Barrin&ton is a good case in point.

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Mike Deland Regional Administrator Environmental Protection AgencyBoston, Massachusetts 02203 Page 2

I urge EPA to take immediate action to extend public water to affected residents, to remove the heavily contami­nated soil, and to protect the reservoir from potential con­tamination.

With best regards, I am

Sincerely,

GJH:map