Toxic wastes endanger new Fenway ballpark

By Cosmo Macero Jr.

August 4, 2000 Web posted at: 10:05 AM EDT (1405 GMT)

BOSTON, Massachusetts (The Boston Herald) -- A toxic load of cancer-causing agents is lurking below ground on part of the site where the Red Sox hope to build a new ballpark, the Herald has learned.

That could prove troublesome to the team, which was denied a state-financed environmental contingency fund as part of a $313 million government subsidy bill approved by the Legislature last week.

Records show high concentrations of dangerous benzopyrene and a half-dozen other hazardous compounds were detected last year following an underground fuel oil spill at 1265 Boylston St. The Sox plan to build a service area and players' garage on the site as part of the team's $665 million ballpark project.

Managers of the low-rise office building, which now houses WBCN-FM, moved swiftly last December to contain the spill and begin a state-approved remediation process.

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But environmental experts say the high levels of contamination, as much as 17 to 42 times normal levels, suggest the carcinogenic material may have been present in the ground long before the spill.

The Red Sox are now operating on a financial high wire, with prospective cost overruns for site cleanup and land acquisition threatening to dash the team's hopes of obtaining financing.

``A lot of (development) transactions fall through because of this sort of thing,'' said Thomas Theis, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Clarkson University in New York.

Theis and other experts, including a specialist from the Department of Environmental Protection, said it's not uncommon to find benzopyrene in urban fill in concentrations ranging from 2 milligrams per kilograms to 5 milligrams per kilograms.

But soil tests performed last year at 1265 Boylston found the crystalline yellow substance in concentrations of 85 milligrams per kilograms.

``That's a high number,'' said Patrick Corcoran, an environmental project engineer from Pawtucket, R.I.

Part of a larger category of carcinogens known as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, benzopyrene has caused cancer, genetic damage and birth defects in laboratory mice. The federal government's ``minimal risk level'' for repeated exposure to humans is a tiny 0.1 milligrams per kilogram.

And while its primary threat is exhibited when the substance becomes airborne or is ingested, benzopyrene is also dangerous when it comes in contact with the skin.

Other carcinogenic PAHs detected on the Boylston Street site last year include chrysene (100 mg/kg), benzoanthracene (87 mg/kg), benzofluoranthene (48 mg/kg) and several others.

``Anywhere you look around Boston you're going to find some level of PAH,'' said Paul Locke of the DEP's Office of Research and Standards. ``What you often find in fill is a lot of coal and wood ash. That also has these chemicals.''

Still, Locke acknowledged that the levels detected at 1265 Boylston are anywhere from 17 to 42 times higher than what's considered normal. Moreover, he and others suggested any large-scale excavation at such a site would require careful removal of the fill to approved hazardous waste dumping grounds.

``There may be higher (cleanup) costs,'' said Barry Skoultchi of the Whitman Companies Inc. - New Jersey-based environmental firm. ``On a positive note . . . these materials don't usually travel far. The likelihood of finding them in the groundwater is not that high.''

The presence of PAHs in much higher volumes on a site in Hartford, Conn., and the uncertain cleanup cost and time frame, were key factors that prompted the New England Patriots to abandon a $380 million stadium deal there in 1999.

A spokeswoman for the Red Sox declined comment yesterday. But a source close to the team acknowledged that the franchise is vulnerable to excessive cleanup costs and other potential overruns. Beyond the hazardous material at 1265 Boylston, a review of environmental reports performed for the Herald last March by the Dedham-based New England DataMap Technology Corp. turned up oil spills, compromised fuel tanks and toxic substance releases within the ballpark footprint.

The team's city-funded budget for all site work, including a massive demolition effort on 10 acres of urban fill, is $50 million with no extra margin for cost overruns.

``There is no question that's what makes this a burden as (the Red Sox) go for financing,'' the source said. ``That's on the shoulder of the Sox.''

The team is struggling to assemble $352 million in financing as sources say Mayor Thomas M. Menino is angry with the team for not lobbying hard enough to win approval for land takings from the City Council.

``The silence is deafening,'' said one source close to the mayor. ``Where's the Red Sox on this?''

Although one Sox lobbyist, former Councilor Joseph Tierney, sat through Wednesday's council hearing, councilors say the team continues to ignore them.

``I think they are afraid,'' said Councilor Maura Hennigan of Jamaica Plain, one of three swing votes now opposing the project. ``Anyone can see where this is going, the Red Sox are realizing that too.''

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