Woburn, Massachusetts, in the 01813 zip code, currently holds a critical environmental hazard designation due to profound historical industrial contamination. The area encompasses twenty-one hazardous locations within a ten-mile radius, including the Agway/Kress Property situated less than two miles away. Other active facilities, such as the Shaffer Landfill and Watertown Bemis Dump, sit within a fraction of a mile, creating overlapping zones of potential exposure.

The EPA identifies the primary threats at the Agway/Kress Property and surrounding locations as unspecified hazardous substances. While exact chemical profiles vary, these broadly classified industrial contaminants typically include heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and industrial solvents. Chronic exposure to these substances via vapor intrusion, groundwater consumption, or soil contact can severely disrupt endocrine function, damage neurological pathways, and increase carcinogenic risks for the local population. The Agway/Kress Property remains in active status under federal environmental regulations. This designation indicates that the EPA is currently conducting ongoing remediation, long-term monitoring, or containment operations, meaning the environmental threat is not yet fully mitigated.

Given the active regulatory status and extreme density of nearby hazardous sites, residents must take immediate protective measures. Individuals utilizing private wells must install point-of-entry reverse osmosis water filtration systems to block migrating groundwater contaminants. Residents should also secure professional vapor intrusion testing and subsequent sub-slab depressurization systems for their basements to prevent volatile gases from accumulating indoors. Households should strictly avoid cultivating edible gardens in native soil, utilizing raised beds with imported, certified-clean soil to prevent accidental ingestion of persistent surface contaminants.