Pyrrhotite in Massachusetts

02/23/2019 -- EAST LONGMEADOW -- State Rep. Brian M. Ashe, D-Longmeadow, welcomed more than 100 homeowners Saturday to an information session on in concrete foundations and on efforts to help homeowners address the issue.

In its most recent budget, Massachusetts set aside $50,000 to reimburse homeowners the entire cost of visual testing conducted by a licensed professional engineer up to $400. The fund will also reimburse homeowners at a rate of 75 percent for the testing of two core samples up to $5,000. To receive reimbursement for foundation testing, homeowners must fill out a one-page form and mail it to the Office of Public Safety & Inspections, Crumbling Foundations, 1000 Washington Street, Boston, MA Suite 710, Boston, MA 02118.

Robert Anderson, chief of inspections, building and engineering for the Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure, told the crowd that the material could have been used in any home built from 1983 to 2015 within a 20-mile drive of the quarry. That works out to be a significant chunk of central and western Massachusetts. There is no count, yet, of how many homes in Massachusetts have pyrrhotite. But it’s been spotted in at least in East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Monson, Palmer, Wales and Ware. In Longmeadow alone, 400 homes — about 10 percent of Longmeadow’s housing stock — were built between 1983 and 2017 when the tainted concrete aggregate was in use.