BY ABRAHAM ANDREWS
Despite city and state officials’ warnings, Varian continues to delay the residual cleanup of the toxic chemicals it dumped in Beverly decades ago.. The chemicals in question are cleaning solvents and discarded compounds that the company, according to its critics, deposited haphazardly into the ground surrounding the Varian site that existed at 150 Sohier Road.
Varian ostensibly began cleaning up the chemicals in 1992. However, when the company sold the site in 1995, its legal troubles began. The Bass River Tennis Club was the first to raise the alarm. The club went to court with Varian over the negligent mismanagement of chemicals which had resulted in some spilling over into the ground on the tennis club’s property. As a result of this case, the Bass River Tennis Club was awarded 2.3 million dollars by a jury, but little more was done to penalize Varian or ensure that the cleanup mistakes were properly rectified.
After four more years of Varian’s clean-up project, more flags were raised when state regulators accused the company of providing misinformation. Varian’s foot dragging regarding the cleanup project continued, and in 2003 state officials cited the company for noncompliance. The state officials claimed that the company was not doing enough to find the sources of the chemical waste and that they were making it impossible for officials to properly monitor the progress of the cleanup.
Over the past three decades, local concern over the chemicals dumped by Varian has increased considerably. Joining the cause along with government officials, Beverly citizens began to get involved. Some attempted to sue Varian in 2005 over questions of whether the company’s chemicals were causing Cancer. This case fell through due to a lack of evidence, however, and the whole cleanup ordeal began to fade from the public’s view. Despite the public losing interest in the project, officials were still greatly worried about the dangers that were posed by the VOCs, or volatile organic compounds.
In 2015 state officials conducted an audit of the cleanup. While the results looked more promising, it was revealed that the testing was conducted using the same wells that were used for injecting the cleaning agents intended to neutralize the chemicals. This skewed the results of the test and further caused distrust in Varian from state and city officials.
The Varian cleanup reentered the public eye in November of 2020 when an article in the Salem News revealed that the chemical levels in and around the Varian site were still at dangerously high levels. This raised much concern from both the public and the city, and both called for more oversight. Varian spent the next four months testing various homes and businesses for chemicals in an attempt to alleviate concerns. Concerns were not alleviated, however, the following year the company was ordered to create an “immediate response plan” after one home’s indoor air test showed high levels of trichloroethylene, a dangerous chemical with the potential to cause cancer.
“My concern is that another 20 years doesn’t go by,” a Beverly resident told Panther News, “and a whole generation of children doesn’t have to wonder if something is being done.” Worries continued to grow after the Shore Country Day School was forced to close down two of its fields due to concerns over the chemicals.
Finally, in February of 2022, State officials said that Varian’s cleanup plan was violating state regulations and they gave the company two years to fix the problem. Varian was instructed to create a new plan under threat of heavy financial penalties. Several more public meetings occurred and the company set up a website to inform the public on the cleanup.
After a thirty year struggle to hold Varian accountable for polluting our city, Beverly citizens and officials are hopeful that the process will finally result in a cleaner environment for all.
“Together,” Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said, “we’re all working to make sure that this one, finally, gets done right.”
TIMELINE OF VARIAN CLEANUP PROJECT
