Town uses natural process to clean up brownfield

An experiment is taking place in the small town of Great Barrington that could revolutionize the way communities deal with thousands of “brownfield” sites across the state.

An 8-acre parcel located near downtown and on the Housatonic River is being cleaned up through a process called bioremediation.

The site is the former home of New England Log Homes and became contaminated with preservative chemicals containing carcinogenic chlorinated compounds. The company left the community in 1991 with a derelict building and huge costs to clean up and redevelop the site.

The town helped the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire acquire the site in 2007 by forgiving $300,000 in back taxes. Mass Development has also provided financing, and the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have supported the alternative remediation process to redevelop the site.

This past summer, the CDC hired Biotech Restoration of Charlotte, N.C., to clean up the dioxins and PCBs on the site. The company specializes in restoring the ability of local bacteria to break down toxic chemicals – as an alternative to capping a site or trucking contaminated soil off site.

“This solution offers a faster, cheaper, and better alternative to municipalities that are trying to repurpose and redevelop obsolete or abandoned properties in their communities,” said Chris Young of Biotech Restoration.

The bioremediation process began in May with the tilling of soil and addition of compost, nitrogen fertilizer, lime and an additional product to allow existing bacteria in the soil to metabolize dioxins and PCBs. The site is similar to a working farm, with the soil being tilled twice a week and irrigated. The CDC is likely to continue to work the land until the first freeze.

Based on a test of soil where Biotech Restoration applied its process to a portion of the property last winter, it should take about four to six months for the dioxins to reach acceptable levels mandated by the DEP. Tests will continue to be taken periodically until the samples meet acceptable levels.

Once the site is deemed safe for development, the CDC plans to develop a park and housing and to relocate the local food co-op there.