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EPA LAUNCHES NEW ENGLAND BROWNFIELDS INITIATIVE, ISSUES GRANTS, SERVICES TO NEW HAMPSHIRE AS PART OF URBAN ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION PROGRAM

Release Date: 10/01/1996
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office (617)918-4154 Bill Walsh-Rogalski, Brownfields Coordinator (617)573-9678

BOSTON -- In an effort to curtail suburban sprawl and instead promote economic growth in New England's cities, EPA Administrator Carol Browner and New England Regional Administrator John P. DeVillars today launched the New England Brownfields Initiative. This four-pronged effort includes nearly $500,000 in additional grants to New England cities and nearly $400,000 for site assessments to spur economic development in eight other New England communities.

Today's announcement brings the total amount of funds awarded in New England under EPA's Brownfields Initiative to more than $2.2 million, and adds a number of new tools to the agency's urban agenda. EPA's Brownfields Initiative is designed to promote the return of contaminated urban sites to economic use.

In addition to these grants, EPA's New England Brownfields Initiative includes:

• Agreements between EPA and property owners to limit the liability that can impede the transfer of contaminated properties to new owners;
• Reviews of remedies at seven Superfund sites in order to limit the cost and speed the cleanup of these sites; and,
• EPA site assessments of abandoned polluted properties throughout New England that offer the greatest potential for beneficial economic reuse. EPA will invest $385,000 in site assessments in eight New England communities to help local authorities launch these sites for redevelopment.

"With this effort, EPA is providing potent fuel for New England's economic recovery -- and we're doing it by promoting economic activity on contaminated urban properties so we can keep our farmland and open spaces free of the developers' bulldozer," DeVillars said.

ForNew Hampshire, today's announcement includes $140,000 in grants and services to state municipalities to speed the cleanup and economic reuse of contaminated urban sites.

Concord received a Brownfields grant of $90,000, while Londonderry will receive an EPA site assessment to determine the nature and extent of contamination at a site that the municipality is currently eyeing for redevelopment.

"The Brownfields program is an integral piece of our urban economic revitalization program, which is improving the quality of life for New England's city residents," DeVillars added. "EPA will work hard to make sure these projects contribute to the revitalization of these abandoned properties. Here in New Hampshire, EPA and our community partners will prove yet again that environmental protection and sustainable economic growth go hand in hand."

The Concord Brownfields grant will be used to identify and begin to address more than 60 suspected contaminated sites in the city's 440-acre "brownfields corridor". Activities planned include: Completing a first phase of environmental assessments for at least half of the corridor; conducting a second, more in-depth phase of assessments on three select sites; and generating a summary of the assessment results for the public.

In Londonderry, EPA will perform a site assessment at Lamont Labs, where EPA field teams conducted an $380,000 emergency removal last year. The owner of the former laboratory is bankrupt, but the town won't foreclose on the property due to liability issues. At least one company is interested in acquiring the property.

Four other New England cities, Somerville, Mass., New Haven, Conn, Naugatuck Valley, Conn. and Portland, Maine, also were selected as Brownfields projects today, bringing the total number of New England recipients to 13. Burlington, Vt.; Loring AFB, Maine; Chicopee, Mass.; Lowell, Mass.; Lawrence, Mass.; Worcester, Mass; and the State of Rhode Island received grants earlier this year. Boston and Bridgeport, Conn., round out the list of 13.

Other tools the agency is employing as part of its urban economic revitalization program include prospective purchaser agreements, remedy reviews and site assessments.

• EPA-New England is using prospective purchaser agreements to foster development of contaminated parcels by removing the liability barriers associated with transferring the property to new owners. One such agreement is being used to foster the development of a shopping mall at the Raymark Superfund Site in Stratford, Conn.
• Through a remedy review initiative, EPA-New England is reviewing past decisions to determine if new or better information exists that would yield a more cost effective cleanup remedy while maintaining health and environmental cleanup standards. Thus far, seven Superfund sites in New England have benefitted from updated remedy decisions, speeding the cleanup and reducing costs by more than $56 million.
• The region is initiating a regional pilot program to conduct brownfields site assessments -- valued at more than $385,000 -- at eight municipally owned properties in an effort to promote redevelopment.