From the Lab by ETR Laboratories

Earlier this month, a large fire broke out at Mid City Scrap in Westport, Massachusetts. If you haven’t heard about it, that’s understandable. It wasn’t national news. But for anyone with a private well within a reasonable distance of that site, it’s worth paying attention to.

Scrap metal yards are not simple piles of old steel. They accumulate decades worth of materials: crushed vehicles, industrial equipment, electronics, wiring, batteries, and all the fluids, coatings, and chemical residues that come with them. When that material burns, it burns hot and it burns complex. The smoke carries contaminants. The water used to fight the fire carries them too, and that water has to go somewhere. In most cases, it soaks into the ground.

University of Rhode Island Professor of Environmental Hydrogeology Thomas Boving was quoted after the Westport fire saying he would want his water tested. That’s not alarmism. That’s the honest answer from someone who understands how contamination moves through soil and into groundwater.

Why private well owners specifically need to pay attention

If you’re on city water near an industrial fire site, your municipality is at least nominally responsible for monitoring what comes out of the tap. You may or may not trust that process, but it exists. If you’re on a private well, there is no monitoring. No one is checking your water on your behalf. The state doesn’t test private wells after events like this. The company responsible for the fire is not going to proactively knock on your door and offer to test your water.

That responsibility sits with you.

The contaminants associated with a scrap metal fire and the firefighting runoff that follows can include heavy metals like lead, arsenic, chromium, and cadmium, volatile organic compounds from fluids and synthetic materials, and other industrial chemicals depending on what was stored or processed at the site. These don’t show up in your water overnight. Groundwater moves slowly, which is actually part of what makes post-event contamination tricky. You might test a week after a fire and see nothing. You might test six months later and find something that wasn’t there before.

What testing actually looks like in this situation

For a well owner near an industrial fire or similar event, a comprehensive panel is the right starting point. That means not just bacteria and hardness, which are the basics many people default to, but heavy metals, VOCs, and any contaminants specifically associated with the type of industrial activity at the site.

At ETR Laboratories, our heavy metals panel and VOC testing cover the primary concerns in a situation like this. We also offer a microanalysis scan for anyone who wants a deeper look at biological activity in their water, including bacteria quantification and identification, yeast, and mold. If you’re near the Westport site and you’ve been wondering whether to test, this is the answer: yes, and sooner rather than later. Having a baseline reading now gives you something to compare against down the road, even if everything comes back clean today.

The practical reality is that most people near industrial events like this never test. They assume someone else is handling it, or that their water looks and tastes fine, so it probably is. Both of those assumptions have cost people significantly over the years. Water doesn’t announce contamination. That’s the whole problem.

If you’re in the Westport area or anywhere near an industrial site, fire, or environmental event and have questions about what testing makes sense for your situation, reach out for a free consultation or browse our testing options.

Sources

WJAR NBC10 — Mid City Scrap fire, Westport, Massachusetts, May 2026

WJAR NBC10 — Experts say scrapyard fire in Westport may have contaminated drinking water

Town of Westport — Official Press Release on Scrap Yard Fire

WJAR NBC10 — Westport Residents Raise Concerns Over Water Testing After Fire