Brownfield Corrective Action Plan

The parcel containing the Hardwick Yellow Barn is a brownfield. For more than three decades, the site was an auto garage with bodywork and equipment maintenance. Environmental risks typically associated with this use include hazardous substances and petroleum products.

Results from environmental site assessments going back to 2017 can be found here.

Assessment indicate that the septic tank may contain heavy metals. Additionally, soil sampling has identified the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are pollutants generated during the incomplete combustion of organic materials (e.g. coal, oil, petrol, and wood). The soil samples did not exceed Vermont soil standards, but more testing is needed.

The project has an approved Corrective Action Plan. During site work, we pulled the septic tank and conducted soils characterization, only to discover much higher levels of contamination than expected. (Arsenic, likely leaching from buried debris from a decades-old road project.) We also uncovered debris from a burnt wooden structure, which also contained excessive levels of contamination.

Fortunately, the project has received the generous support of a $1.2 M Brownfield Revitalization Fund grant from the State of Vermont to remediate the site.