A proposed relocation of the state highway department's salt storage facility to River Road has businesses there speaking out.
Town officials and the Massachusetts Highway Department support the potential relocation of the salt shed out of the town watershed district.
The current location, near the intersection of Interstate 93 and Route 495, is believed to have contributed to the high sodium levels now found in the town's drinking water supply.
"It should have never been put there," said Steve Boynton, chairman of the town's Fishbrook Watershed Advisory Committee. "There are few areas to put it. River Road is fairly ideal. We see it as a low impact move."
But River Road area businesses have voiced opposition to the proposal already
Members of the Merrimack Valley Transportation Management Association expressed their concerns about the move to Boynton, Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski, and Health Director Tom Carbone at the organization's twice-annual meeting, held last month at Putnam Investments on Shattuck Road.
"We definitely have concerns about that," said Andrea Leary, the Merrimack Valley TMA's executive director of the proposed salt shed relocation. "We want to work with the town and MassHighway to see if there's a more appropriate location that won't be moving one problem up one exit."
Leary said she expected to schedule a second meeting with the town sometime in May.
"We are planning to sit down with them to look at other options," said Leary. "We've really noted what our main concerns are. The business community at River Road is substantial."
Leary referred to the proposed new location for the salt shed in the southwest quadrant of the River Road interchange as the business corridor's gateway.
"We have a lot of multinational headquarters and to have the salt shed there would not be a very good thing for the business community in terms of aesthetic appeal," she said.
Carbone said the town is willing to sit down again with the Merrimack Valley TMA.
"I think the next step is to find some common ground on how to address those concerns," said Carbone. "Mainly, I think it's aesthetics. They want to make sure that this is the right place for it, that MassHighway has done its homework, that relocation to that location won't cause problems elsewhere."
The newly-located salt shed would be accessible from River Road, according to Boynton.
The current shed is only accessible via an off ramp between I-93 and 495.
"We feel it's probably a safer situation from that spot," Boynton said of the proposed new location.
Boynton, an Andover resident and independent environmental consultant, said he believed the businesses were most concerned about aesthetics.
"They didn't want sort of an eyesore in their backdoor," he said. "I expect they're going to continue to show some resistance."
Boynton described the preliminary design of the new salt shed as a "more permanent looking structure" of wood, as opposed to the current fabric and steel-framed shed.
"It looks a little more traditional," said Boynton, noting the shed size would remain about the same and could potentially be obscured by vegetation.
Boynton said the proposed new location is as close to Interstate 93 and as far from River Road as possible. The area slopes downward toward the highway, potentially reducing the visibility of a salt shed, he said.
Leary said businesses want to review MassHighway's decision-making process for selecting River Road as the new proposed location.
Not far from the proposed relocation area, Leary said the city of Methuen draws water from the Merrimack River for its municipal water supply.
Leary said she also understands that a substantial amount of the salt finding its way into the groundwater at the current shed location is actually caused by state trucks transporting it and not the shed structure itself.
"Those concerns are still going to be there," said Leary. "You're actually moving it closer to the Merrimack River."
Boynton said his expectation is that the new salt shed won't be built until at least the fall of 2009. State funding must be secured and more public involvement is required, he said.
The River Road interchange is currently the only proposed new location for the salt shed, according to MassHighway Spokesman Adam Hurtubise.
"That's the most valid location on state-owned property that would fit the need," said Hurtubise. "The new location is not within the watershed. The new location also provides easy access for our snow and ice trucks."
Hurtubise said there were no further details about the projects funding or schedule at this time.
"We're working very closely with the town of Andover on this design," said Hurtubise. "This is all preliminary. It's still in the design phase."
Carbone said relocation of the salt shed out of the town's watershed district will directly impact sodium levels in town drinking water. High sodium levels can aggravate high blood pressure and alter the hardness and taste of drinking water, he said.
"We know it's now in the town's watershed," said Carbone of the shed. "We know that when that was first built there, right after it we saw our sodium levels in the drinking water shoot up. It may not be the sole cause of the increase in sodium, but it's certainly a contributor. The sooner we get it out, the sooner the numbers will drop."
