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EPA Gives $850,000 in Brownfields Grants to Danbury and the Naugatuck Valley

Release Date: 05/18/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that a coalition that includes Danbury and the Naugatuck Valley has been chosen to receive $850,000 in Brownfields assistance to set up a revolving loan fund that will help pay for site cleanups in a region that includes the cities of Danbury and Waterbury, as well as half a dozen other communities.

The City of Danbury will receive $500,000 for low-interest loans to pay for cleanup at the Mallory Hat factory site and property at 13 Barnum Court. Another $350,000 will go for similar cleanup work in Naugatuck Valley, which includes the City of Waterbury and Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, Oxford, Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, Watertown and Thomaston. The communities that will benefit from this grant host more than 50 known brownfield sites, including several former metal finishing and brass manufacturing sites.

The Naugatuck Valley/Danbury Coalition is among 15 grant recipients in New England and 102 chosen nationally to receive a total of $35 million in Brownfields grants. The funds are being used across the country for site assessments, revolving loan cleanup programs and Brownfields job training programs.

"This sizeable grant will help jump start efforts by Danbury and the Naugatuck Valley to clean up their abandoned and contaminated sites so they can be put back to productive reuse," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "As a result, residents of the area can look forward to a cleaner environment, new jobs and more tax revenues for the community."

Connecticut received a total of $1.8 million in Brownfields grants, including grants to the town of Berlin, Middlesex Community College in Middletown and to a coalition of Danbury and the Naugatuck Valley.

"These Brownfield grants can act as both an economic and environmental garden for Connecticut,": said U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. "They weed out old and abandoned projects and seed new economic and environmental life, ultimately leading to new jobs and a brighter future for our entire state."

"This is another red-letter day for brownfields programs in Connecticut," said Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman. "These grants from EPA will provide a real boost to four more communities in our state that are actively working to rescue wasted places and capitalize on teir economic and environmental potential. It is a wise investment that will pay tangible dividends in terms of fewer urban eyesores and more good jobs."

"I have worked closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to secure funding for low interest loans for communities int he Fifth District to facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of brownfield projects," said U.S. Rep. James H. Maloney. "Through a revolving loan fund we have the final tool we need to proceed with the cleanup and reuse of Brownfield sites in the Naugatuck Valley/Danbury communities."

A total of $5.4 million in Brownfield grants were awarded today to 15 New England recipients. Other grants went to New Bedford, Brockton, North Adams and Gloucester in Massachusetts; Providence and the State of Rhode Island; Westbrook and Lewiston in Maine and the Windham Regional Commission in Vermont.