Pfizer the Pfhixer
Brick Yard Point, North Haven
June 2023
“Where did you hear about this place?”
“I just happened to see something online.”
“What made you want to come here?”
“To be honest, I was attracted to the exclusivity of it.”
Laughter.
Then some introspection. Then my interjection:
“It’s only open, what? like 18 hours a year? Something like that?”
The two gentleman thought for a second and generally agreed, noting that they can go whenever they want so they don’t really think of it that way. And, importantly, anyone can go anytime with a group and a reservation. But for individual randoms like me? Three summer Saturdays, each with three two-hour blocks to reserve.
Upon reserving, you receive a series of emails and instructions. Upon arriving, a guy walks to an electronic chain-link gate, enters the secret nuclear code and opens it for you. You drive in and are instructed to “see about the man” waiting at the trailhead.
All of this is true. Welcome to Brick Yard Point adjacent to the Quinnipiac River and the Route 40 Connector and I-91. One of the most exclusive trail systems in the state.
I hear you. “Why? What is this place?” Well, for that, we’ll need some history…
The Brick Yard Point property once played a central role in the industrial history of the greater New Haven region. In the 1800s, I.L. Stiles and Sons mined clay and operated a brick yard on the property. In the 1900s, the property was occupied by recognizable industrial leaders such as Carwin Chemical Company, Burndy Corporation, Upjohn Company, Dow Chemical Company and Pharmacia Corporation. The industrial influences on the landscape along the Quinnipiac River closely mirrored the changes occurring along rivers all across our nation.
Oi. A veritble rogue’s gallery of industrial polluters.
By the late 1900s, the impacts of past practices were known and new investments made to restore our environment. In 2003, Pfizer acquired Pharmacia Corporation and embarked on a significant remedy and restoration project designed to protect human health and the environment, and restore the natural habitat. The site-wide remedy included active treatment of the most highly impacted areas, installation of engineered cover systems on the remaining impacted areas and surface impoundments, and placement of Environmental Land Use Restrictions to ensure the remedy remains protective.
I just want to point out that “by the late 1900’s” sounds so long ago and yet… it’s not. At all.
Years of remediation and groundwater treatment and testing have been undertaken here. When walking the trails, I assume that’s what all those pipes poking up are. And the fake rocks are likely covering some monitors of some sort.
The parcel’s history isn’t hidden. After all, there’s an ugly building at the parking lot and trailhead with mystery tanks and who knows what else. (Products ranging from photographic chemicals to herbicides to cosmetic additives were manufactured at the site – Pfizer never operated here.) A North Haven town council member who helped spearhead the Brick Yard Point effort said that this place was “nothing but a chemical cesspool.” The plant produced vapors that residents could smell for miles.
Pfizer, the villains of New London, were actually the heroes here in North Haven, as they funded a large portion of the remediation efforts. They spent between $140 and $150 million on the 12+ year cleanup.
A mile-long underground hydraulic barrier wall prevents groundwater from entering the Quinnipiac River and all around the site there are wells that collect the water, which is treated at an on-site plant run by Woodard & Curran, who specializes in these types of efforts. Everywhere I walked, I was being protected from who-knows-what by various capping systems and liners underneath my feet.
I’m not sure why this place is (literally) gate-kept. I’m sure there’s some weird liability reason… wait, did I get cancer in the 30 minutes I spent here? Hmmm… (Actually, they say Brick Yard Point “is primarily intended to protect and serve nature, but is made available to the public on a restrictive basis to provide an opportunity for visitors to see nature at its finest.” I dunno… if I grow an ear on my back, you know why.
Many people spend more time here… slower walkers and certain bird watchers. The restoration features two of the scarcest habitats in the region – upland meadow and freshwater wetlands. Brick Yard Point encompasses 57-acres of Quinnipiac ecosystem that now flourish with native plants and shrubs that are home to many birds, reptiles, and mammals.
There’s a gleaming kiosk brimming with information and a trail map at the outset. The four distinct trails are clearly marked (and are essentially gravel roads). Each leads to what they call a “learning area” with interpretive signage. It’s all very nice once you forget what’s beneath your feet.
I enjoyed my walk. The honeysuckle filled the air with its perfume-sweetness and with so few humans allowed here so infrequently, the birds and other animals have the place to themselves. And they want to keep it that way; an osprey dive-bombed me twice because I… I don’t know. Because I came within 60 yards of his nest? Dude was crazy. When I told the guys at the gate of this experience, they merely laughed and said, “yeah, he’ll do that.”
Brick Yard Point is a success story. It’s not the prettiest place in the state and it never will be. But it’s 100% prettier than it was at any point in the last 100 years, and that should count for something.
Brick Yard Point (Information and reservations)
CTMQ’s North Haven’s Town Trails
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