Old Upjohn site: from ‘chemical cesspool’ to nature preserve

NORTH HAVEN — Residents Rico B. Gattilia and Miriam Brody saw decades of their own advocacy efforts come to fruition Thursday as they gathered with officials to celebrate the opening of a nature preserve at the former Upjohn Chemical site.

First Selectman Michael Freda said Brody and Gattilia, who turns 97 next month, were part of a group of citizens that banded together roughly 40 years ago to call attention to environmental issues on the land, located at the end of Stiles Lane.

More than a century of industrial use left it contaminated, according to a release from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Products ranging from photographic chemicals to herbicides to cosmetic additives were manufactured at the site, it says, and past owners included the Pharmacia Corp. and Upjohn Chemical.

Pfizer never operated on the site but became the latest owner when it acquired Pharmacia in the early 2000s, according to Russ Downey, Pfizer’s director of remediation.

Through years of work, the company has turned 57 of the site’s 78 acres into a nature preserve featuring interactive trails. Called Brick Yard Point, the attraction will open to the public next week.

It offers a stark contrast to the state of the land several decades ago, when it was “nothing but a chemical cesspool,” as Gattilia put it.

Activities there produced vapors residents could smell all over town, he said.

Freda remembered the smell from when he first moved to North Haven in 1980.

“I’d be jogging up and down Hartford Turnpike every day, and I could actually smell what could best be described as a sweet, pungent type of aroma,” he said.

Gattilia, Brody and other residents formed a Citizens’ Advisory Panel so their voices could be heard during the remediation process.

Their input helped Pfizer decide to designate part of the site as a nature preserve, according to Downey, who said the panel had requested a buffer between any industrial activity and the adjacent Quinnipiac River.

The preserve serves as that buffer.

“30 years ago ... the wetlands here were all polluted,” Gattilia said. “And then Pfizer got in here and look what they did here. They created a miracle.”

Two golden dragonfly pins shone atop his hat as he spoke. They belonged to his late wife, also a panel member, who used to wear them with a red dress, he said.

Neither she nor Brody’s husband, another advocate, lived to see the result of the cleanup. But Brody and Gattilia got front-row seats during Thursday’s festivities, watching as local, state and federal officials delivered remarks.

Afterward, staffers for Woodard & Curran, which runs the site’s treatment plant, gave the panel members a tour of the trails by golf cart. During the drive they saw lily pads, pink and yellow wildflowers and a pair of swans gracing the Quinnipiac River.

“They really gave the town nature back,” Gattilia said.

Pfizer spent between $140 and $150 million on the cleanup, according to Downey, who described some of the remediation strategies.

Treatments from heated underground metal pipes helped removed contaminants from the groundwater.

A mile-long underground hydraulic barrier wall prevents groundwater from entering the Quinnipiac River, Downey said, adding that wells collect the water, which is treated at an on-site plant. Caps of various types also cover contaminated areas and protect visitors from “contact with environmental impacts,” according to Downey.

“Everywhere that people are walking on there’s ... different kinds of lining systems,” he said.

Four interconnected loop trails totaling about two miles comprise the preserve, he told attendees of Thursday’s grand opening.

Signs along the way educate visitors about various types of wildlife, and the preserve’s website, brickyardpoint.org, offers trail maps and other information.

Another 17 acres of the site are slated for development. While exactly what kind of development has yet to be determined, Downey said there have been discussions about constructing a commuter rail station.

Freda praised Pfizer’s handling of the site.

“Pfizer has been such an outstanding company for me to work with these past 12 years because they’ve taken total responsibility for a site that they have purchased,” he said.

Downey said the preserve will be open to the public from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 and then again in 2022. Visitors should make reservations, which also can be done online.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media People walk one of the trails during the opening of Brick Yard Point in North Haven on Thursday.