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APNewsBreak: DC farm site is ecological disaster

This photo taken Dec. 16, 2014 shows BrightFarms Inc. CEO Paul Lightfoot standing near the banks of the Oxon Run in Washington, on land that his company is leasing from the District of Columbia government to build a greenhouse and urban farm. Lightfoot is considering abandoning the project because of extensive contamination on the city-controlled land, which has been used for years for illegal dumping and an unlicensed landfill. Some of the waste has made it into the waterway, a tributary of the Potomac River. (AP Photo/Ben Nuckols) This photo taken Dec. 16, 2014 shows BrightFarms Inc. CEO Paul Lightfoot standing near the banks of the Oxon Run in Washington, on land that his company is leasing from the District of Columbia government to build a greenhouse and urban farm. Lightfoot is considering abandoning the project because of extensive contamination on the city-controlled land, which has been used for years for illegal dumping and an unlicensed landfill. Some of the waste has made it into the waterway, a tributary of the Potomac River. (AP Photo/Ben Nuckols)

By Associated Press December 23, 2014 1 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – A massive urban farm project the District of Columbia mayor announced with great fanfare more than 18 months ago is falling apart.

That’s because no one bothered to inspect the site. If they had, they would have found an unlicensed landfill that’s 18 feet deep and rusting petroleum containers on the banks of a creek. And that’s in addition to what the produce company and city officials already knew was there: abandoned shipping containers that homeless people use for shelter.

The site is so contaminated, a recent survey by the city estimated it would take $1 million to clean up.

With Mayor Vincent Gray leaving office, New York-based BrightFarms is likely to walk away from a project it once said would be “the most productive urban farm in the world.”