Foul Fenway

excavation of a new highrise tower in filled in marshland = that clam flat smell.

Dear Valued Residents;
By now you may have noticed some odors coming from the excavation work at 1350 Boylston Street. As some of you have experienced with past projects in the neighborhood this is a function of the organic soils that are being disrupted as part of excavation.

We wanted to reach out to you and describe what the odor is and what Skanska (the construction company running the project) is doing about it.

The following is a brief description of the soils conditions they are encountering. During the soil pre-characterization program, organic deposits consisting of fibrous PEAT intermixed with gray ORGANIC SOIL with sand and gravel was encountered at the Site. Soil excavation and activities which disturb these organic soils can result in a hydrogen sulfide odor, more commonly noted as a rotten egg smell that is often noted in swamps or at low tide. Hydrogen sulfide has a very low odor threshold, with its smell being easily perceptible at low concentrations.

In terms of mitigation of the odor, Skanska is employing a water based deodorizing agent which is applied via a power washer. We expect the materials to be onsite and employed within the day. This will allow the odor particles to be reduced during the excavation process. They have encountered this layer of Peat at approximately 15’ below grade and anticipate this material to be roughly 4’-8’ thick ranging from the Kilmarnock Street toward 1340 Boylston Street(Fenway Health). They anticipate this work will continue for another 3-4 weeks and expect that the worst of it will be controlled by the deodorizing agent. They will now employ this method throughout the excavation of the peat layer from this point forward.

Skanska is confident that the deodorizing agent material will have an immediate impact and we expect this to dissipate the smell greatly. We do suggest that any windows be kept closed to reduce the amount of odor that your experiencing, and along with the methods being employed, we believe this will be more palpable during the ongoing work.

We thank you in advance for your patience and we expect to provide further updates based upon any questions that anyone may have.

The Fens used to be a swamp, which is bad enough, but also a destination for raw sewage. Then they filled it in and built building on top of it. And every time they dig down, it's a mix of swamp, poo, and pee.

It's right near the Museum of Fine Farts