"The best laid plans of mice and men can sometimes go awry."
How well that saying applies to the Case Estates sale. On the night of Nov. 8, Weston voters left the special Town Meeting happy and pleased. In a unanimous vote, Town Meeting had just authorized Weston’s purchase of the Case Estates from Harvard University for $22.5 million (plus some extra for incidental expenses). Everyone went home thinking the town would soon own the Case Estates, and the specter of development on that land so dear to everyone’s heart would soon be banished. But, to paraphrase Stephen Sondheim, a funny thing happened on the way to the closing.
In October, as a matter of prudence, the Board of Selectmen authorized a Phase I environmental survey of the Case Estates by the civil engineering firm of Gale Associates of Weymouth (a Phase I survey is a sort of preliminary or "once-over-lightly" assessment). It included a visual inspection and a review of the site’s history, the latter showing that much of the Case Estates was once covered by apple orchards.
On the basis of this discovery, Gale recommended to the selectmen a more in-depth survey because former apple orchards are known to be notorious repositories of arsenic residues. This second survey would be a laboratory analysis of soil samples. (For background on this, readers can find an article titled "The Apple Bites Back: Claiming Old Orchards for Residential Development" at "www.ehponline.org/members/2006/114-8/focus.html" in a journal published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The author, Ernie Hood, explains, "In state after state, these old orchards (which most often produced apples, but also peaches, cherries, pears and other tree crops) are metamorphosing into highly desirable subdivisions – desirable, that is, until it emerges that the soil beneath the feet of the proud new residents may be contaminated with lead and arsenic. These toxic byproducts are left from the days before DDT and before organophosphates, when arsenical pesticides, particularly lead arsenate (LA), were the treatment of choice to prevent the ravages of insect damage").
Wendy Diotalevi, director of the Weston Board of Health, observes that there was an environmental naiveté throughout most of the 20th century and earlier, when people blithely disseminated toxins into the environment with little inkling of the damage that was being done.
"Like the arsenic residues themselves," she said, "that’s a rather persistent problem." Timeline Oct. 25: Weston and Harvard sign a purchase and sale agreement contingent, among other things, on approval by Town Meeting and on a clean bill of environmental health. Nov. 8: The contingency of approval by special Town Meeting is met. Soon afterward, the selectmen authorize a second, more in-depth survey by Gale Associates.
Dec. 12: A survey report submitted to the town by Gale Associates finds "reportable concentrations" of arsenic in six out of 17 samples, three of which are strong enough to be classified as an "imminent hazard." The report also indicates traces of lindane exceeding the state Department of Environmental Protection’s recommended limits in all 17 samples, as well as smaller amounts, in some samples, of DDT and other contaminants.
A new item soon appears on the town’s Web site under News and Events titled "Case Estates Purchase Delayed."
Robert E. Cook, director of the Arnold Arboretum, of which the Case Estates is actually a part, states in regard to the findings, "Because the samples turned up arsenic in the soil, it probably relates mostly to pesticides used in the early farming days before the second World War."
Dec. 22: The originally scheduled date for the closing – now deferred. Soon after, meetings are held among representatives of Harvard and selectmen Chairman Michael Harrity, Town Manager Donna VanderClock and town counsel. Buyer and seller agree, as Harrity puts it, "that it is Harvard’s responsibility to assess the full extent of the contamination and to clean it up sufficiently to comply with state regulations."
James Gray, associate vice president of Harvard Real Estate Services, comments only that, "We are working together to find a solution acceptable to both parties." Harvard has engaged the firm of Haley and Aldrich of Boston to do another study, preliminary to cleanup, and Gray refers to that when he goes on to add, "Further study is being done now to help determine what the solution should be."
March 15, 2007: The newly scheduled date for closing, contingent on completion of satisfactory cleanup.
What’s next?
Harrity expresses confidence that a satisfactory cleanup will take place and Weston will then purchase the Case Estates. He thinks it unlikely that Weston and Harvard will fail to agree either on the need for cleanup or the efficacy of the cleanup that Harvard conducts. If those things were to happen, however, "Weston," he says, "would not buy the land."
Harrity thinks this improbable because, in his view, Harvard is eager "to do the right thing." Moreover, he points out, doing the right thing is in Harvard’s self-interest. If Weston were to back out, owing to the contamination and dissatisfaction with the cleanup, Harvard might not easily, in those circumstances, find another buyer willing to pay $22.5 million.
If anyone believes in ghosts, he or she might think the spirit of Marian Case is back from the grave, masterminding the defense of her land. That facetious notion aside, Harrity says both parties agree at present that there’s a serious problem at the Case Estates and it’s up to Harvard to fix it.