Garelick Farms, former Fairdale Farms, to close its doors

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In yet another example of corporate consolidation affecting smaller towns, the former Fairdale Farms dairy plant in Bennington, Vt., will be closing at the end of June, officials announced April 19. Now called Garelick Farms of Vermont, the milk processing plant, which currently employs 125 workers, has long been a staple on the west side of town along Route 9. Over the years, it offered visitors young and old an inside look at the commercial dairy industry, giving tours to school children and others interested in seeing dairying firsthand. Its red barn also sold old-fashioned ice cream cones and confections, and the adjacent property offered a bucolic setting to spend an afternoon. New owner Dean Foods, a Dallas-Tex.-based company that now controls some three-quarters of all milk sold in the Northeast, said the move was a part of its ongoing efforts to consolidate its considerable holding of milk processing plants. The Bennington operation will move to a larger facility in East Greenbush, N.Y., about 40 miles west. Dean Foods plans to spend $4 million upgrading the East Greenbush plant, and will increase production there by 25 percent. They added that the New York site was more conveniently located near interstate highways and larger population centers. Employees at the Bennington plant earn anywhere from $25,000 to more than $55,000 a year. About half of those employees have been offered transfers to work in the East Greenbush plant; the others will be given severance packages and help on their job search. Many of the workers at the plant have been employed there for more than 10 years. According to Gary Warren, general manager of both the Bennington and East Greenbush plants, "We decided to merge the two milk processing operations and upgrade the East Greenbush plant to improve our operations and better serve our customers." Warren continued, in the statement, that "Our Vermont plant is in a residential neighborhood in a historic section of town, and understandably, it is not well suited for expansion." Warren said the company plans to continue to buy milk from its current suppliers, a group of farms within a 70-mile radius of the East Greenbush plant. He said the move was the right thing to do for consumers, to keep prices down. The recently passed 2002 Farm Bill has included a provision that will essentially continue the Northeast Dairy Compact — which sets a minimum price for raw milk from dairy farms — but will include all 50 states. At the end of June the 23-acre facility, located along Route 9, will be left with a refrigerated warehouse and offices. Dean Foods is considering donating the property to the Bennington County Industrial Corporation (BCIC), to be used for some unspecified operation. The nonprofit BCIC is the county’s business stimulator, which already hosts business incubator space at it North Bennington headquarters. BCIC Executive Director Lance Matteson said Tuesday that "we're having some very positive talks right now [between BCIC and Dean Foods]," but said it was too early to elaborate on any future plans for the site. “Obviously, we’re very disappointed with the move,” said Matteson. “We knew they were going to be expanding, but we had hoped they would stay here.” The Fairdale Farms began operation in 1946 as a family-run dairy farm, owned by the Holden family, whose descendants still live nearby and continue farming, on a smaller scale. The farm was sold to Garelick Farms several years ago, which was a subsidiary of Cumberland Farms. Dean Foods is the country’s largest processor and distributor of retail milk products, according to the company’s web page. It also carries a line of specialty foods, some under familiar names such as Hershey, Borden and Land O’ Lakes. Formerly the Suiza Foods Corporation, the Texas company changed its name after a December 2001 merger with the Chicago-based Dean Foods, a major dairy processor in the Midwest. Dean Foods bought out Cumberland Farms, which had owned several milk processing plants in New England, all under the name Garelick Farms.
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North Adams Finance Committee Warned of Coming Sludge Costs

By Tammy Daniels iBerkshires Staff
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Waste treatment plan supervisor Brad Furlon warned the Finance Committee last week to expect a future 500 percent increase in sludge disposal.
 
"Even though the district is still has the approval of suitability to apply compost to land, we no longer do it, primarily because of the contaminant, PFAs," he said. "Compost plant supplies is a $200,000 increase this year. There's no way around this cost whatsoever. ...
 
"Unfortunately, these costs are going to go up. They expect this sludge disposal cost in the next five to 10 years to increase 500 percent."
 
PFAs, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are considered "forever chemicals" because of how long it takes for them to breakdown. They are used in numerous products and have become endemic in air, soil and water.
 
The Hoosac Water Quality District, a shared regional waste treatment system between North Adams and Williamstown, had planned to accept sludge from other communities and sell off the resulting compost through waste hauler Casella. But that proposal ran into opposition; Williamstown has a citizens petition on its annual town meeting warrant this year that would prohibit the use of contaminated compost. 
 
The district is still producing compost, which has to be removed. 
 
"We had a backlog of about 2,500 yards of compost that was on site," Furlon said. "We worked on a plan to dispose of our compost. Even though the district is still has the approval of suitability to apply compost to land, we no longer do it, primarily because of the contaminant, PFAs. ... the most feasible way and economical that we looked at was to be able to take our compost to a landfill in Ontario, N.Y."
 
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