The Recorder’s recent article on the situation at the former Lunt Silversmith property pointed out that the state Department of Environmental Protection found there is still ground and building contamination from the use of hazardous materials by Lunt Silversmith when for decades it manufactured silverware on site, and further clean up is needed.
The building is owned by the city of Greenfield and is leased to 401 Liberty St. LLC and the company wants to buy the property from the city. 401 Liberty St. is the owner of many sites leased by the Behavior Health Network and Baystate Health and has 40 locations in western Massachusetts. The site remains contaminated and yet the city is intent on selling this property to Liberty St. The question now is whether Greenfield is going to be responsible for hiring a licensed site professional to make an assessment of what needs to be done , or will It share a licensed site professional with the prospective buyer, Liberty St.?
I see a potential conflict of interest here and also more important — more problems with actually cleaning up the site and the neighborhood. So far, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner has not indicated how the city will respond to the report on the property. I think Greenfield must be responsible as the owner of the property. The contamination endangers the neighborhood and the occupants. The city needs to hire its own independent licensed site professional.
Judy Atkins
Greenfield