The Nyanza site in Ashland is added to the EPA's National Priority List. Warning signs continue to emerge and Ashland reaches out to the state Department of Public Health for help.
For decades, companies produced textile dyes and other chemicals and disposed of the wastewater and sludge on site in Ashland. The waste contained high levels of acids, spent solvents, mercury, and other chemicals that contaminated the soil and groundwater. Health risks related to these toxins are what prompted the federal Environmental Protection Agency's involvement in the 1980s.
In 1998, the residents of Ashland notice a cancer cluster among youth who had played at the site and report it to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The state responds with a retrospective cohort study. The Ashland Nyanza Health Study finds that children who played in specific areas and had contact with the contaminated water have an increased risk of cancer, particularly if they have a family history of cancer. At least five individuals lose their lives to soft-tissue sarcoma after playing at the site.
Cleanup continues for decades. In a MDPH report from 2006, researchers note the EPA's intention for more remedial action to address mercury in fish and sediment in the Sudbury River. In 2023, federal funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is allocated towards further cleanup of the site.
