OSWER/OSRTI 

Washington, DC 20460 

NATIONAL PRIORITIES LIST (NPL) 

***Proposed Site*** September 2012 

WALTON & LONSBURY INC. Attleboro, Massachusetts 

Bristol County 

 Site Location: 

The 2.8-acre Walton & Lonsbury Inc. (W&L) facility is located in a mixed residential/industrial area in the 

southeastern Massachusetts City of Attleboro. 

 Site History: 

Operations at W&L site date back to 1940 and include industrial chromium plating with a minor copper plating 

operation. The facility was equipped with multiple oversize chromic acid dipping tanks placed beneath the facility 

floor. Facility operations included parts degreasing using trichloroethylene (TCE), grit blasting, chrome plating using 

cyanide, stripping with acids, aqueous rinsing, grinding and polishing. Prior to the construction of a wastewater 

treatment system in 1970, untreated wastewater was discharged directly to a wetland adjacent to the facility. After 

construction, chrome hydroxide sludge generated by the treatment system was discharged to an unlined lagoon and 

wastewater was discharged to another unlined surface impoundment, and from there through the wetland area to Bliss 

Brook. This treatment system was replaced with a closed-loop system in 1984. However, the continued use of an 

onsite dry well to receive gray water from the facility, leaky plating tanks, and roof runoff containing chromium 

condensate from the process air vents has contributed to the continuing contamination of onsite soils. 

 Site Contamination/Contaminants: 

Principal contaminants associated with the site include total and hexavalent chromium, lead and TCE. 

 Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment: 

Site-related wastes have been detected at elevated concentrations in wetlands adjacent to the facility, on residential 

properties abutting the wetlands and along Bliss Brook up to 0.4 mile downstream of the facility. Residents in houses 

and apartments located within the contaminated areas are threatened by wastes migrating from the facility. Although 

two ground water plumes containing hexavalent chromium and TCE are migrating from the facility, local ground 

water is not used as a drinking water supply. 

 Response Activities (to date): 

The EPA has demolished the building, removed the chromium dipping tanks, fenced the facility, excavated 

contaminated soils and documented site wastes in the adjacent wetlands and on private residential properties near the 

facility. Several residences with concentrations of hexavalent chromium in surface soils posing concerns are being 

addressed by the Superfund removal program. The state is investigating potential vapor intrusion concerns and has 

provided sub-slab treatment systems to three homes with vapor intrusion contamination. 

 Need for NPL Listing: 

The state of Massachusetts referred the site to the EPA and provided an NPL support letter to ensure a comprehensive 

evaluation and cleanup. Other federal and state cleanup programs were evaluated, but are not viable at this time. 

[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may 

change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination.] 

For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to 

these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on 

the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/index.asp or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.