North Adams Covers Half Cost for Cumberland Farm Cleanup

iBerkshires.Com reports the North Adams will be contributing less than $34,000 to the cleanup of the former City Yard on Ashland Street.

Cumberland Farms purchased the property just over a year ago for $575,000 with the caveat that the city would share 50 percent of  any cleanup costs up to $287,500, or half the purchase price. The costs incurred for the testing were entirely borne by Cumberland Farms.

The City Council last week approved the transfer of $33,925.04 from the city's Sale of Land account to reimburse Cumberland Farms. Mayor Thomas Bernard said the cleanup came in less than $68,000.

There had not been an estimate of the cost for cleanup up the 50,000-square foot parcel, which had housed the City Yard for more than a century. Potential pollutants had been thought to be oils and fluids related to the operation of machinery and motor vehicles.