Have you ever watched the movie A Civil Action? I watched it again last night, and it made me curious to find out more about Woburn, MA and the contaminated wells. If you have never seen the movie, or read the book, it is basically about a small town in Massachusetts that suffers from contaminated water. Many people in the town living closest to the wells have developed some form of leukemia. It turns out that several 55-gallon drums of toxic chemicals have been abandoned near the wells, from which the toxins are seeping into the groundwater, causing people to get sick.

This morning I did a little research, and found that Woburn, MA is located in the Mystic River Watershed. The watershed covers about 1% of the state's land, but is home to more than 500,000 people. The watershed has been the location of many of the state's industrial industries, such as: power plants, hazardous waste sites, incinerators, landfills, transfer stations, and various other polluting facilities. It is also home to three superfund sites, of which the site Wells G&H in Woburn is included. Eight of the fifteen Massachusetts communities considered the most overburdened with pollution lie in the Mystic River Watershed; most of these communities are considered environmental justice communities.

This map shows minority and low-income populations in the Mystic River Watershed area. It's hard to see the legend, but basically, if it's not grey, it's an environmental justice community. Thankfully, there are some environmental justice organizations who are helping to keep the residents informed and educated about the water quality issues and how to stay safe. Additionally, the EPA continues to work with the communities to clean up the superfund sites, including Wells G&H in Woburn.

To get a closer look at the map and find out more information about the Mystic River Watershed, please see: http://mysticriver.org/environmental-justice
To learn more about the EPA's clean-up efforts at Wells G&H, see: http://yosemite.epa.gov/r1/npl_pad.nsf/701b6886f189ceae85256bd20014e93d/25001afe0850c69a8525691f0063f701!OpenDocument