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Saturday, October 31, 2026 Worcester County, Massachusetts · Change town
Government · Board of Health

Board Eyes State Receivership for Blighted Properties

Hardwick's Board of Health weighed state receivership for blighted properties and got a PFAS cost update.

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Board of Health · Meeting of October 8, 2026

Hardwick's Board of Health weighed state receivership for blighted properties and got a PFAS cost update. Assistant Attorney General Lynn Brennan and Program Manager Amanda, of the AG's Neighborhood Renewal Division, said the program is free to municipalities and resolves 80 percent of referrals before court, with candidates including an asbestos-flagged Moore Road property and a commercially zoned parcel carrying roughly $29,000 in back-tax liens. "There's absolutely no financial responsibility on the municipality, on the taxpayers, on anybody," Brennan said.

Separately, monitoring wells on Lower Road tested at 44 and 49 parts per trillion for PFAS, above the state's 20 ppt standard, pushing the town into bottled-water deliveries and an estimated $30,000 in treatment-system installations across three properties. The board also voted unanimously to adopt new green burial and home burial regulations and set an application fee.

In the full story:

  • Who Was There
  • Organizations And Documents Referenced
  • The complete report — 2,778 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of October 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

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