Essex County, MA
The federal environmental record for Essex County (population 810,089): what is on file, where it is, and what remains open. Sources and retrieval dates are on the methodology page.
5
Superfund NPL sites
50
federal cleanup sites
20
PFAS-detecting water systems
43
TRI facilities
41
open tank releases
Superfund NPL sites
| Site | City | Status | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creese & Cook Tannery (Former) | Danvers | on the NPL | 05/24/2013 |
| Groveland Wells | Groveland | on the NPL | 09/08/1983 |
| Haverhill Municipal Landfill | Haverhill | on the NPL | 06/10/1986 |
| Microfab, Inc. (Former) | Amesbury | on the NPL | 08/03/2017 |
| Salem Acres | Salem | deleted | 06/10/1986 |
Drinking water: PFAS testing
Public water systems serving Essex with at least one PFAS detection under UCMR5. The federal limit for PFOA and PFOS is 4 ng/L; EPA proposed in May 2026 to rescind the limits for the other compounds, which are shown for information.
| System | Highest results | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| DANVERS WATER DEPT. MA3071000 | PFOS: 5.2 ng/L | above final limit |
| GROVELAND WATER DEPARTMENT MA3116000 | PFPeA: 7.3 ng/L PFOA: 6.3 ng/L PFHxA: 4.8 ng/L | above final limit |
| HAMILTON WATER DEPT MA3119000 | PFOS: 11.2 ng/L PFOA: 11.1 ng/L PFBS: 6.4 ng/L | above final limit |
| IPSWICH DPU WATER DEPT MA3144000 | PFHxA: 20.6 ng/L PFPeA: 19.5 ng/L PFOA: 7.3 ng/L | above final limit |
| LYNN WATER AND SEWER COMM MA3163000 | PFBA: 5.4 ng/L PFPeA: 5.2 ng/L PFHxA: 4.9 ng/L | above final limit |
| LYNNFIELD CENTER WATER DISTRICT MA3164000 | PFOA: 6.1 ng/L PFBA: 5.1 ng/L PFHxA: 3.8 ng/L | above final limit |
| MANCHESTER BY THE SEA DPW MA3166000 | PFOA: 12 ng/L PFHxA: 5 ng/L PFBS: 5 ng/L | above final limit |
| MERRIMAC WATER DEPARTMENT MA3180000 | PFOA: 6.9 ng/L | above final limit |
| MIDDLETON WATER DEPT. MA3184000 | PFPeA: 11.4 ng/L PFHxA: 7.1 ng/L PFHpA: 6 ng/L | above final limit |
| NEWBURYPORT WATER DEPARTMENT MA3206000 | PFOS: 4.6 ng/L PFBS: 3.4 ng/L | above final limit |
| PEABODY WATER DEPT. MA3229000 | PFOA: 7 ng/L PFBA: 6.4 ng/L PFPeA: 4.9 ng/L | above final limit |
| ROWLEY WATER DEPARTMENT MA3254000 | PFPeA: 14.1 ng/L PFHxA: 9.1 ng/L PFOA: 7.7 ng/L | above final limit |
| SALISBURY WATER DEPARTMENT MA3259000 | PFBA: 8 ng/L PFOA: 6 ng/L PFPeA: 3 ng/L | above final limit |
| TOPSFIELD WATER DEPARTMENT MA3298000 | PFOA: 9 ng/L PFOS: 5.4 ng/L PFBS: 4 ng/L | above final limit |
| WENHAM WATER DEPT. MA3320000 | PFOA: 7.2 ng/L PFPeA: 6.8 ng/L PFHxA: 6.7 ng/L | above final limit |
| ANDOVER WATER DEPT MA3009000 | PFPeA: 4 ng/L | detected |
| BEVERLY WATER DEPT MA3030000 | PFPeA: 4.1 ng/L PFHxA: 3.6 ng/L | detected |
| LAWRENCE WATER WORKS MA3149000 | PFHxA: 3.1 ng/L PFPeA: 3 ng/L | detected |
| METHUEN WATER DEPT MA3181000 | PFPeA: 5 ng/L PFHxA: 4 ng/L PFOA: 4 ng/L | detected |
| SALEM WATER DEPARTMENT, MA MA3258000 | PFPeA: 4.2 ng/L PFHxA: 3.7 ng/L | detected |
On a system with detections? Testing and treatment options
Facilities reporting toxic releases (2024)
43 facilities in Essex filed TRI reports for 2024, totalling 60k lb released. The 25 largest by volume:
| Facility | City | Top chemicals | Total released |
|---|---|---|---|
| BOSTIK MANUFACTURING PLANT | MIDDLETON | Toluene, Cyclohexane | 9k lb |
| RAYTHEON CO | ANDOVER | N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone, Lead | 9k lb |
| STRAUMANN MANUFACTURING INC | ANDOVER | n-Hexane | 8k lb |
| HERO COATINGS INC. | NEWBURYPORT | Toluene | 8k lb |
| ITW/FOILMARK INC | NEWBURYPORT | Toluene, Methanol | 7k lb |
| VICOR CORP | ANDOVER | Copper And Copper Compounds | 6k lb |
| ICP CONSTRUCTION | ANDOVER | Ethylene glycol, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) | 6k lb |
| ITW PERFORMANCE POLYMERS | DANVERS | Methyl methacrylate, Benzoyl peroxide | 2k lb |
| STREM CHEMICALS INC. | NEWBURYPORT | n-Hexane | 1k lb |
| THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC CHEMICALS INC | WARD HILL | Ethylbenzene, Lead And Lead Compounds | 715 lb |
| CL HAUTHAWAY & SONS CORP | LYNN | Cyclohexane, Toluene | 635 lb |
| ANDOVER HEALTHCARE INC. | SALISBURY | Zinc compounds | 569 lb |
| SHAWSHEEN RUBBER CO INC | ANDOVER | Toluene | 491 lb |
| ROCHESTER ELECTRONICS | NEWBURYPORT | Lead | 371 lb |
| UNION SPECIALTIES INC | NEWBURYPORT | Triethylamine, Certain glycol ethers | 150 lb |
| GE AEROSPACE | LYNN | Nickel, Chromium | 93 lb |
| VERANOVA L.P. | NORTH ANDOVER | Methyl isobutyl ketone, Dichloromethane | 91 lb |
| EDWARDS VACUUM | HAVERHILL | Chromium, Nickel | 83 lb |
| TRANSENE CO INC. | DANVERS | Hydrogen fluoride, Nitric acid | 20 lb |
| WINCHESTER INTERCONNECT RF CORP | PEABODY | Copper | 17 lb |
| TECHNICAL MANUFACTURING CORP | PEABODY | Nickel compounds | 10 lb |
| CEDARS MEDITERRANEAN FOODS | HAVERHILL | Peracetic acid | 8 lb |
| BERKSHIRE MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS INC | NEWBURYPORT | Chromium, Nickel | 6 lb |
| HOLCIM - NER INC. | SAUGUS | Polycyclic aromatic compounds | 6 lb |
| CEDARS MEDITERRANEAN FOODS INC | HAVERHILL | Peracetic acid | 4 lb |
Underground fuel tanks
EPA's UST Finder records 1,026 tank facilities in Essex: 852 tanks in service and 2,747 closed. 566 fuel releases are on record, of which 41 remain open. Open releases are cleanups that have not reached "no further action".
Radon
EPA maps Essex as Zone 1, the highest predicted indoor radon levels (over 4 pCi/L average). Radon and air quality are covered in depth on lung.com.
The record for one specific address
County figures blur what matters: distance. The Address Environmental Report runs these same federal datasets against one address and reports every site, tank, polluter and water result around it, with distances, in about a minute.
Get the report - $39All federal cleanup sites on file
The wider Superfund enterprise inventory (SEMS) for Essex, including sites assessed but never listed. Presence here records that EPA had reason to look, not a finding of danger.
- 128 ELM STREET PROPERTYSALISBURY
- ASH STREET TANNERY (FORMER)DANVERS
- AT & T (FORMER)NORTH ANDOVER
- AUTOMATIC CONNECTOR INCGEORGETOWN
- AW CHESTERTONGROVELAND
- BOSTON GAS SALEM LNGSALEM
- BRANCH LANE MERCURY RELEASEBEVERLY
- CASCO CHEMICALBEVERLY
- CIRCLE FINISHINGNEWBURYPORT
- CREESE & COOK CO. (FORMER) 2DANVERS
- CREESE & COOK TANNERY (FORMER)DANVERS
- DANVERSPORT EXPLOSIONDANVERS
- DEWEY DAGGET LANDFILLSAUGUS
- EASTMAN GELATINE CORP LIME DISP AREAPEABODY
- FAFARD CONSTRUCTIONSALEM
- FILTEK PROPERTYBEVERLY
- GALLOWS HILLSALEM
- GENCORPLAWRENCE
- GLOBAL HAZMATTERS EMERGENCY RESPONSENORTH ANDOVER
- GROVELAND STREET SOLVENTSHAVERHILL
- GROVELAND WELLSGROVELAND
- GTE SYLVANIA (FORMER)SALEM
- HAMILTON LANDFILLHAMILTON
- HAVERHILL MUNICIPAL LANDFILLHAVERHILL
- HAVERHILL SALVAGEHAVERHILL
- HILTON CHROMELAWRENCE
- HOYT & WORTHEN TANNING CORPHAVERHILL
- LAWRENCE GAS MFG PLT (FORMER)LAWRENCE
- LT JOHN A. FERRA US ARMY RESERVE CENTERDANVERS
- MAINE POST AND BEAMROWLEY
- MANSELL FIELDSALEM
- MICROFAB INCAMESBURY
- MONNIER SITE/PYBURN PROPERTYPEABODY
- NORTH AMERICAN PHILLIPS LIGHTING (FORMER)LYNN
- NORTH ANDOVER MIDDLE SCHOOL RECREATION COMPLEX PHASE 1NORTH ANDOVER
- NORTH ANDOVER RECYCLING FIRENORTH ANDOVER
- OMEGA LABORATORIESROWLEY
- PARKER RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE HQDSPLUM ISLAND
- PCI SYNTHESIS INCNEWBURYPORT
- PEABODY LANDFILLPEABODY
- SALEM ACRESSALEM
- SOUTHERN AVE/COMMERCIAL PROPERTYESSEX
- SPACE AGE DRY CLEANERSAMESBURY
- TOMBARELLO PROPERTY - PARCEL 2LAWRENCE
- TRIMOUNT BITUMINOUS PRODUCTSGROVELAND
- U S M MACHINERY DIVBEVERLY
- US AIR FORCE PLANT 29/GENERAL ELECTRICLYNN
- VARIANBEVERLY
- VITALE FLYASH PITBEVERLY
- WHYTE'S LAUNDRYLYNN