The zip code 02495 in Nonantum, Massachusetts, currently holds a critical environmental hazard designation due to an extreme local concentration of active hazardous waste facilities. Residents are situated in a densely impacted zone containing ten hazardous sites within a five-mile radius and twenty-one sites within ten miles. The nearest major recognized Superfund facility is the Agway/Kress Property, which is located approximately 1.9 miles away. This specific location, alongside immediate neighbors like the Shaffer Landfill and Watertown Bemis Dump positioned just 0.01 miles from the zone center, remains in an active National Priorities List cleanup stage under EPA jurisdiction.

The EPA officially lists the primary environmental threats in this area as unspecified hazardous substances and toxic materials. While exact chemical profiles vary by facility, prolonged exposure to such industrial waste compounds commonly leads to respiratory irritation, neurological impairment, and elevated risks of chronic organ toxicity. Active remediation indicates that full containment of these subsurface and airborne pollutants has not yet been achieved.

Given the ongoing remediation efforts and extreme proximity to uncontained pollutants, residents must adopt immediate protective measures. Individuals should install certified HEPA air filtration systems in their homes to capture migrating particulate matter from nearby active sites. Households utilizing private well water must schedule comprehensive annual laboratory testing for volatile organic compounds and heavy metals to ensure constant groundwater safety. Finally, residents should avoid disturbing deep soil during landscaping or gardening to prevent the inhalation of legacy industrial contaminants that may have settled in the topsoil layers.