Dartmouth Reaches Tentative $50,000 EPA Settlement on $28 Million Bliss Corner Cleanup

DARTMOUTH -- June 15, 2026, Dartmouth Select Board reaches tentative $50,000 EPA settlement on a $28 million federal cleanup at Bliss Corner. Town Administrator Cody Haddad announced Monday that years of negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have produced a tentative agreement under which Dartmouth would pay $50,000 to resolve all liability for the approximately $28 million the agency has spent remediating the Bliss Corner site; the deal is in an EPA public comment period with final approval expected within one to two months. The board also unanimously approved a contract for Brandy Silva as the town's first-ever DPW Business Manager, a position funded equally across the general fund, solid waste enterprise, water, and sewer accounts following Town Meeting authorization. Separately, Haddad announced the departure of Human Resources Director Susana Cunningham, who is leaving for a school district position in early July after roughly one year managing a benefits transition affecting approximately 1,200 to 1,300 town and school employees. The board approved a conservation restriction covering 8.48 acres on Little River Road with the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, set summer Town Hall hours effective June 22, and processed more than a dozen board and committee reappointments ahead of the June 30 fiscal year end.