With the cannabis harvest season only weeks away, the Select Board was in the hot seat to announce a decision approving or denying grower Wiseacre Farm's odor-mitigation plan, with that proposal having been under the microscope for months. On August 28, the group held a virtual public session with consultants Josh Rembusch, vice president of Wiseacre expert Byers Scientific, and Tech Environmental Vice President Mike Lannan, on behalf of the town's third-party expert. Following their presentations and statements, the dais found common ground, approving an odor-mitigation plan for this season, with those results to set the stage for next year's proposal.
For about a year, residents of West Stockbridge and Richmond have voiced concern over cannabis odors emanating from the Baker Street facility, with those neighbors seeking a remedy, especially during the fall harvest season when those smells are most intense. Earlier this year, Wiseacre Farm, through its part-owner Jon Piasecki, unveiled an innovative odor-mitigation system promulgated by Byers in which air molecules containing a neutralizing agent, Ecosorb CNB 204, are deployed through nozzles running along the facility's fence line. A large agricultural fan is then engaged to direct the cannabis' malodorous particles into a downslope back corner of the facility's field where they bind with the neutralizing agent to combat the offending smell. Rembusch spoke to residents and town officials in April at the cannabis site.
On July 1, Tech Environmental President Mike Lannan presented a review of the Byers proposal that covers part, or 20 percent, of the fence line with the nozzles. He recommended to the Select Board that, given the size of Wiseacre's growing space, the facility employ a "continuous fence-line system" for odor control. Lannan questioned if, at 20 percent coverage, the partial-fence-line system and fan would be enough to deter the malodors in an outdoor facility.
Wiseacre is classified by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission as a Tier 11 facility, meaning the entire canopy the business will cultivate is between 90,000 and 100,000 square feet, with the growing area outdoors.
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