The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 42

B6 City Region The on Globe THURSDAY, OCTOBER4, 2001 4 AG sues over pollution by creating an environmental affairs department, and three top-level positions to manage it Yesterday, Reilly scoffed at the move: "I give it the value of a grain of salt right now." "I have no confidence that they will live up to anything," an increasingly agitated Reilly continued. "The only thing that going to convince me is when they show me what we're demanding they do. You dont need a new position, you need to secure the safety of the public, it's an abomination." An MBTA spokesman said the legal maneuver was counterproductive, and that officials have worked in good faith toward cleaning the 37-acre site, even though the degree of hazard, and the responsibility for the contamination, remain a matter of debate. "The MBTA thought it was making significant progress by working cooperatively with DEP on the issue sur ROCHE BOEOIS' PAHIS rounding Readville," spokesman Joe Pesa-turo said. "And it's important to remem This is the sixth time in five ber that the is mov- years that we've ing forward despite the fact that ques- had tO Slie the tionstoger about li- MBm mbta legal and behavior of this the site, put security there, and show me you're willing to protect the residents of that area." Forty homes abut the Readville rail yard, which straddles the Hyde park-Ded-ham border.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who lives about 100 yards from the site, has applauded Reilly's legal maneuver. Reilly said he regretted dragging an Pushes cleanup of rail station in Readville By Raphael Lewis GLOBE STAFF Accusing the MBTA of having "the worst environmental record of any state agency by far," Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly yesterday asked a Superior Court judge to appoint a special master to force the transit agency into compliance. The highly unusual move came 12 years after the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority first reported dangerous levels of lead and arsenic in the soil near its Readville commuter, rail station, and six years after it was supposed to be cleaned up.

The state Department of Environmental Protection wants the pollutants at the site, and at 16 others owned by the transit agency, assessed and removed immediately. In an interview, Reilly lambasted the MBTA for "thumbing its nose at the law," while evidence mounts that children routinely play in the contaminated zone and dig in hazardous soil. He also said that the MBTA has worsened contamination at the Readville site by using the area "as a dumping ground." "This is the sixth time in five years that we've had to sue the MBTA over environmental regulations. The behavior of this state agency is outrageous," Reilly said. "For them to callously disregard I 1 7 V.i llTl state agency is environmental officials have long contended that the should not be responsible for the cleanup costs because the authority inherited the property from the defunct Penn Central Thomas F.

Reilly Mass. attorney general I IT tlftlllll other state agency to court, but asserted that the move was necessary and appropriate, given his responsibility to enforce the same regulations on private companies. '1 dont like being in this position, but we are forced to treat the MBTA like any private polluter," he said. "Their conduct is egregious, and it shouldn't happen. The people deserve better." Ahearing is set for Oct 12.

Railroad. The insists that, under state environmental regulations, new owners are not liable for previous contamination on rail beds. In court documents filed yesterday, Reilly asked Judge Ralph Gants to fine the for failing to move swiftly, and for further contaminating the site. He said the transit agency has yet to properly assess the pollution or to secure the area or clean it. On Tuesday, the MBTA moved to deflect the impact of Reilly's suit MBTA.

moves to combat terror OXoughlin said, adding that it is also in the experimental stages. The MBTA has also been working for 2Vi years with the US Department of Energy to create a chemical-weapons sensor, O'Loughlin said. Those devices, too, are still in the testing stages. sponse to bomb threats which often number 30 a day, as nervous riders call in suspicious bags and packages. OToughlin said that the MBTA has also installed a sensor in an undisclosed subway station, devised by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to detect the release of biological weapons such as anthrax or polio.

The device is one-of-a-kind, MBTA Continued from Page Bl paratory things for years now. They are one of the more forward-leaning departments in the country." After the board meeting, OXoughlin said that the Ts police force has already racked up about $500,000 in overtime since the Sept. 11 attacks, for increased patrols of subway tunnels and re Raphael Lewis can be reached by email at rlewisglobe.com. FALL SAL1 Curvaceous to straight and All the famous names you know and love, and we mean the good stuff! Awesome selections from infants to size 1 6. 1 WINTER OUTERWEAR! ciris and boys.

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