Lettuce, greens, and herbs will soon be growing at a location in Springfield, Massachusetts that was once dangerously polluted.
A worker-owned cooperative commercial greenhouse is under construction at the site of the former Chapman Valve Co. where components for nuclear weapons were manufactured. Many years of soil removal and remediation were required to rid all traces of radioactivity from the property.
Tucked away in a light industrial area of the Indian Orchard neighborhood, the site is a perfect location for the 15,120-square foot greenhouse, according to Fred Rose, co-director of Wellspring Cooperative.
" In a few short months it will be up and we'll be growing lettuce," Rose said Thursday during a ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on the $1 million project.
The greenhouse will use hydroponic technology to grow local produce year round.
