Hazardous Waste Site | Gloucester, MA | Mid-19th century to present

What Happened?

Between 1854 and 1952, the former Gloucester Gas Light Company operated a manufactured gas plant (MGP) along the Gloucester waterfront in the vicinity of the present-day Harbor Loop and Rogers Street along the Inner Harbor.

The MGP used industrial processes to produce manufactured gas from coal and oil. Customers used the gas primarily for the same purposes we use natural gas today (e.g., lighting, cooking and heating). MGPs, which were common before the development of the region’s natural gas pipelines, often yielded by-products of the gas production process such as tars, sludges, and oils. 

Production at the gas plant ended in the early 1950s and ownership changed to the North Shore Gas Company, a predecessor of the current owner, National Grid.  A commercial area and Solomon Jacobs Park were later constructed on the site, and a U.S. Coast Guard station was eventually established on a portion of the area. 

What Were the Impacts?

Hazardous chemicals from coal tar (principally PAHspolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; a group of organic contaminants that are often the byproducts of petroleum processing or combustion. Many are toxic to aquatic life and several are suspected of causing cancer in humans.) released by the former manufactured gas plant contaminated soils and groundwater, as well as sediment in the adjacent Gloucester Harbor. These pollutants pose a potential risk to fish and wildlife species that depend upon this area for habitat, including the benthic organisms that make up the bottom of the food chain directly impacted by the contaminated sediments. 

What’s Happening Now?

In 2015, National Grid worked with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection to clean up contamination from the former gas plant. The cleanup, included removal of contaminated soils, sediment, and groundwater, capping of some park and harbor areas with clean fill, and construction of a new seawall to protect the harbor. The offshore sediment dredging was completed, and all cleanup activities were concluded in 2017. 

Since then, NOAA and the other natural resource trustees worked cooperatively with National Grid to conduct a Natural Resource Damage Assessment to  determine the appropriate type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for injuries to natural resources and associated lost recreational opportunities. 

In 2023, the Trustees received a nearly  $5.4  million settlement for past assessment costs, and to plan, oversee and fund habitat restoration. 

In the Fall of 2024, the Trustees began working with the public and other partners to develop a plan that identifies projects to restore ecological resources. A Final Restoration Plan is expected to be completed by the Spring of 2026 with implementation of the selected projects to follow. 

Local community members are encouraged to provide suggestions to the Trustees during the  development of the Restoration Plan by participating in public meetings, providing restoration project ideas and commenting on the Restoration Plans once they are released. An initial public meeting is scheduled for 7 pm on the evening of October 29th, 2024 at the Greater Atlantic Regional Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service located at 55 Great Republic Avenue in Gloucester, Massachusetts.  The meeting will be recorded and a hybrid option will be made available for those who are not able to attend in person. 

The Trustees anticipate additonal public meetings to take place in the future and will also provide additional opportunities to submit project ideas online. Updates on time and place of public meetings will be posted on this page ahead of time. 

Please reach out to Eric Hutchins or Brian Kelder if you have any questions about this scheduled meeting or ways in which you can participate in the planning process. 

PUBLIC MEETING INFORMATION 

Date: October 29, 2024

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: 55 Great Republic Avenue. Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930