In the 19th century a canal was cut from the Lake Champlain shore a few yards inland for barges to dock and deliver goods into Burlington. Then, from 1895 to 1965, a coal gasification plant operated on the site, dumping waste into the wetland around the canal.
Now the area is a superfund site, a federal designation for a hazardous waste site that needs cleaning up. The clean up has been going on for several decades now, and the EPA recently announced plans to move forward with a modification to the current pollution containment system.
Burlington Free Press reporter Candace Page tookVPR’s Jane Lindholm to the site last week to explain.
