Consultants release draft soil plan for Loker Field, opening 20-day comment window

WAYLAND -- February 21, 2023, Wayland consultants open public comment on Loker Field soil plan amid PFAS objections. Weston & Sampson Licensed Site Professional Susan Jason presented the draft Release Abatement Measure plan Tuesday and started a 20-day comment period, telling residents the risk characterization concluded "no significant risk" for the planned natural turf athletic field on the former Dow Chemical site. The plan keeps excess soil on site, mounded and planted with trees, rather than trucking it off. Petitioner John Sachs of Willowbrook Drive, citing a Sierra Club toxicologist, said 3.2 parts per billion of PFAS at five to seven feet shows migration downward and called leaving contaminated soil uncapped "unacceptable" for a children's field. Co-petitioner Tom Maglione flagged a 16-acre figure that should read 8.37 acres and urged sampling near the former firefighting training area. Irrigation will use town water.