More trees could rise from Traverse City's Open Space as a means to thwart an underground cyanide plume that is slowly spreading from the Warehouse District toward West Grand Traverse Bay.

The Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (BRA) voted unanimously this week to approve a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to explore “green infrastructure” to mitigate contamination at the site, where the Hotel Indigo is under construction and plans are moving ahead for the Grandview Market redevelopment next door.

The Grand Traverse County Board of Commissioners will also have to approve the grant before it is accepted.

Tonya Lewandowski of Environmental Consulting & Technology, Inc., which applied for the grant on the county’s behalf, says the number and type of trees and the locations of the plantings have not been determined.

She told the Brownfield board that public views and the effectiveness of different kinds of trees at drawing pollution from the ground would be taken into consideration.

Through a process called phytoremediation, trees can act as "filters" that sponge pollutants from the ground and clean the soil beneath them. Several EPA Superfund sites throughout the country have utilized the process. Though trees could be planted on both sides of Grandview Parkway, the predominance of open land on the Bay side of the road means more would likely be planted there.

Traverse City's Open Space -- a result of the tearing down of the former coal power plant along the Bay -- is widely used and cherished. Proposed public art on the site in 2008 was shot down.

“All these considerations would certainly be talked about as we move forward,” Lewandowski told the board.

Grand Traverse County Brownfield Authority Director Jean Derenzy says she expects discussions to take place between October and May about where and what to plant, adding there will be plenty of opportunity for public comment.

“Once you plant the trees, they’re there for a while, and you want to place them correctly,” Derenzy says.

BRA Chairman Mark Eckhoff echoed that a full public process would have to occur before trees are planted or even before the grant money is accepted.

“You know, we really don’t know what the public wants until the public tells us,” Eckhoff said.

Ross Richardson, a BRA board member and Traverse City commissioner, said during the meeting he believes the project is worth considering. “It sounds cool, if we can find enough spaces to plant the trees,” he said.

In other action, the BRA also approved $2.3 million in Brownfield funds for environmental cleanup at the Grandview Market site, clearing the way for work to begin on the two-phase project.