Vermont Business Magazine EPA has announced it will be awarding $15,994,000 in Brownfield grants to municipalities and organizations working in all six New England states to protect people’s health by assessing and cleaning up contaminated parcels in New England communities. Vermont's share will be $800,000, which will be split between the Windham and Chittenden regional planning commissions. The grants, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grant program, provide communities with the funding they need to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.
Senator Patrick Leahy said of the Chittenden grant: “This project that we are visiting today leveraged a $38,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant, along with loan support from the State of Vermont, into a $5.5 million dollar development of much-needed apartments and retail space in the heart of Burlington’s Old North End. That is a great and meaningful return on federal investment.”
Congressman Peter Welch said: "This brownfield redevelopment funding is a win-win for Vermont, helping promote environmental clean-up and local economic development in our communities."
In the six New England states, EPA is awarding 38 separate grants to 35 different organizations. The funding is part of $55.2 million in EPA Brownfields investments awarded across the country this year.
“EPA’s Brownfields program has helped assess abandoned or derelict properties in communities across the region, cleaning them so they can return to productive use,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “When we put a dollar into brownfields, the community gets back $17 in the jobs and economic opportunities. Cleaning and revitalizing contaminated sites not only makes our communities cleaner, it also makes economic sense.”
In New England, since the beginning of the Brownfields program, EPA has awarded 374 assessment grants totaling $99.1 million, 73 revolving loan fund grants and supplemental funding totaling $90 million and 261 cleanup grants totaling $66.7 million. These grant funds have paved the way for more than $1.4 billion in public and private cleanup and redevelopment investment and for nearly 8,859 jobs in assessment, cleanup, construction and redevelopment. These investments and jobs target local, under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.
In New England, the following Brownfields grants are being awarded this year:
Connecticut – $1,184,000
City of Shelton, $200,000 (cleanup)
Northwest Regional WIB, $200,000 (job training)
Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments. $400,000 (assessment)
City of Norwich, $384,000 (assessment)
Maine - $7,340,000
Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, $820.000 (revolving loan fund)
Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission, $300,000 (assessment)
Town of Berwick, $600,000 (cleanup for Prime Tanning)
Marble Block Redevelopment Corp., $200,000 (cleanup)
Greater Portland Council of Governments, $400,000 (assessment)
City of Portland. $800,000 (revolving loan fund)
Town of Lisbon, $200,000 (assessment)
City of Gardiner, $200,000 (assessment)
City of Gardiner $200,000 (cleanup)
Town of Wilton, $200,000 (cleanup)
Midcoast Economic Development District, $820,000 (revolving loan fund)
City of Belfast, $400,000 (assessment)
City of Old Town, $400,000 (assessment)
Eastern Maine Development Corp., $400,000 (assessment)
Hancock County Planning Commission, $400,000 (assessment)
Piscataquis County Economic Development Council, $400,000 (assessment)
Northern Maine Development Commission, $200,000 (assessment)
Washington County Council of Governments, $400,000 (assessment)
Massachusetts – 4,650,000
Greylock Flume Inc., $200,000 (cleanup)
City of Adams, $400,000 (assessment)
City of Chicopee, $600,000 (cleanup
Town of Lee, $300,000 (assessment)
Town of Plymouth, $600,000. Cleanup of Revere Copper)
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, $400,000 (assessment)
City of Everett, $200,000 (assessment)
City of Gardner, $600,000 (cleanup of Garbose Metals)
Town of Merrimack, $530,000 (cleanup of Coastal Metals)
Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, $820,000 (revolving loan fund)
New Hampshire - $800,000
Upper Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, $400,000 (assessment)
Lakes Region Planning Commission, $400,000 (assessment)
Rhode Island - $1,220,000
RI Department of Environmental Management, $400,000 (assessment)
RI Infrastructure Bank, $820,000 (revolving loan fund)
Vermont - $800,000
Windham Regional Commission, $400,000 (assessment)
Chittenden Country Regional Planning Commission, $400,000 (assessment )
Source: EPA. 5.20.2016.
More information:
Brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/
National EPA Brownfields info: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/