Green clean

A former dumping area for two pesticide companies in Davis is going to be cleaned up with the help of solar power. The Frontier Fertilizer Superfund site in east Davis is filled with toxic chemicals in its groundwater and soil. Its toxicity was discovered by authorities in 1980 when a pet dog died after wading into a pond at the site. A more than $40 million high-tech cleanup project was activated February 23; it’s the first federally funded groundwater cleanup project powered by solar energy. With new technology, officials estimate they will reduce cleanup time from 200 years to just 30.