Conserve and Remediate the Pine Street Barge Canal
Miro Weinberger, Mayor; Max Tracy, President City Council; Zoe Richards, Chair Conservation Board; Ben Traverse, Chair Parks Commission; Andy Montroll, Chair Planning Commission
The land at 453 and 501 Pine Street in Burlington, VT is currently for sale, and at risk of development. This private property is part of of the larger Pine St. Barge Canal Superfund site, an urban wetland on Lake Champlain devastated by industrial pollution in the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently contained, thanks largely to nature being left alone, any development on this site risks spreading the toxins (56 "contaminants of concern" identified by the EPA) more widely on the land and groundwater, and into Lake Champlain, the source of drinking water and recreation for the entire region. This land should be conserved as part of our commons, to let nature continue to heal the land and let humans, in partnership with nature do research on nature-based remediation of land and water contamination.
Sponsored by
To:
Miro Weinberger, Mayor; Max Tracy, President City Council; Zoe Richards, Chair Conservation Board; Ben Traverse, Chair Parks Commission; Andy Montroll, Chair Planning Commission
From:
[Your Name]
We ask that the City of Burlington (Mayor, City Council, relevant Boards and Commissions) work immediately toward conserving in the public domain, for the welfare of human and non-human residents, the land at 453 and 501 Pine Street. The entire Barge Canal site should become a park accessible to all and a laboratory for nature-based solutions to toxic post-industrial pollution.