Jenna Fisher | Patch | January 3, 2020
https://patch.com/massachusetts/waltham/woerd-ave-dump-closer-becoming-world-class-park
For decades, almost 9 acres of land have sat largely overgrown and underutilized. But the old Woerd Avenue landfill, once used as a dumping ground for ashes leftover from heating furnaces, is a step closer to being turned into a public park.
In the 1930s, the city set up a town dump next to Cram’s Cove called the Woerd Avenue landfill. In 1971 with an estimated 35,000 tons of ashes dumped there annually, the city closed the landfill. You can see the former dump behind Koutoujian Playground, along Woerd Avenue and Cove Street near one of the city’s most dense areas and in one of the lowest income neighborhoods.
For years, residents and officials have eyed the land on the Southside as other old landfills around the country were transformed into parks.
About three years ago, the city, led by Housing Division Programs Robert Waters, applied for a loan to transform the property. But as the city looked into it, they learned the site had not been lined to prevent the ash and other debris from contaminating the environment, according to a state-landfill report. So, the city set to work at an effort to remediate the fallout from the former landfill site.
Now, following several years of testing, the city is prepared to complete the installation of the environmental remediation cap and construction of a public park, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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