Officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), U.S. EPA, and Pfizer Inc. joined North Haven officials and community stakeholders this week to celebrate the completion of remediation activities and the opening of a 57-acre preserve at the former Pharmacia & Upjohn Company site.
The 78-acre site has a long history of industrial use, dating back more than 125 years to its use as a clay mine and brickyard, and later when it was occupied by Carwin Chemical, Burndy Corporation, Upjohn Chemical, Dow Chemical, and Pharmacia Corporation. These owners of the property manufactured products used in dyes and pigments; photographic chemicals; sunscreen agents; additives for soaps, perfumes and cosmetics; agricultural herbicides; pharmaceuticals and photo-initiators. All manufacturing ceased at the site in 1993. In 2003, Pfizer Inc. acquired Pharmacia Corporation and assumed responsibility for the site, though Pfizer never operated on the property.
The event marked the end of a decades-long remediation process, with DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes presenting Pfizer with a Stewardship Permit, which defines long-term obligations for maintaining the property, and a ribbon-cutting for Brick Yard Point, a 57-acre preserve and interpretive trail network adjacent to the Quinnipiac River.
“The remediation of this property and its return to public use is a win for Connecticut’s environment and its residents, and I thank all of the U.S. EPA, Pfizer, and North Haven officials and stakeholders past and present who had a hand in seeing this project to fruition,” Dykes said.
