Southborough officials outline testing and mitigation plans for proposed Neary school near Parkerville Landfill

Mark Davis, a member of the Neary Building Committee, and Chris Craig, the town inspector, briefed the Southborough Board of Health on testing and mitigation work near the Parkerville Landfill ahead of a May 10 special town meeting on the proposed Neary school building.

The Neary project site sits adjacent to the capped Parkerville Landfill; Davis and Craig summarized long‑running groundwater and surface‑water monitoring, proposed construction controls (including a vapor barrier and gas‑venting system) and steps the town can take to formalize long‑term oversight with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). “There’s low level materials, that have been consistently there, and according to Parr, not anything of of concern,” Davis said, describing monitoring results his consultant provided.

Why it matters: the proposed new school would be sited within a few hundred feet of active landfill monitoring points, and residents have raised questions about what testing and mitigation will protect students and staff. The Board of Health heard technical details intended to show how the town and the project team would detect and respond to any contaminants or landfill gases and how routine monitoring ties into DEP oversight.

Davis said the town already maintains a long history of testing: “we have…