EPA removing contaminated soil from the Lower Neponset River

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected a cleanup plan for the first mile of the Lower Neponset River Superfund Site, located in Boston and Milton, Massachusetts.

This covers the area of the Neponset River from where it merges with the Mother Brook near the Dana Avenue Bridge, to the Tileston and Hollingsworth Dam.

The cleanup plan includes dredging and excavating contaminated sediment and floodplain soil with total PCB levels exceeding 1 part per million.

EPA will also construct a permanent cap in the first mile of the river to stabilize and restore the riverbed, minimizing surface water elevation changes, providing habitats, and isolating any remaining contamination in deeper sediment.

Cleanup design will begin in 2026, and construction is anticipated to begin in 2027. The removal action is estimated to take approximately four years to complete.