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EPA Gives Three Grants Worth $450,000 To Develop Brownfields in Vermont

Release Date: 04/20/2001
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it will spend $7.5 million to help assess, clean and redevelop abandoned, contaminated sites throughout New England, including $450,000 for a dozen communities in Vermont.

EPA New England announced that $450,000 will be spent to assess contamination at three areas in Vermont. The Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission will receive $200,000 for a new assessment grant, while the city of Burlington and the South Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, representing 10 towns, will receive a total of $250,000 to supplement earlier assessment grants the commission has received.

"These grants will bring additional momentum to community Brownfields programs all across Vermont," said Ira Leighton, acting regional administrator for EPA New England. "Dozens of contaminated sites across New England have already been restored through this successful program. Today's announcement ensures more successes down the road."

Under the agency's Brownfields Assessment Program, communities receive funding to assess contamination at abandoned and vacant sites, and to estimate the costs of cleaning up sites for redevelopment. Communities also receive funding to establish revolving loan programs, allowing them to provide low interest loans to clean up these sites. Once assessed and cleaned, these sites can be put back into productive use by the community. These grants bring to $1.5 million the amount EPA has spent to date on brownfields projects in Vermont.

Funds for site assessments were given to the following communities:

• Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission ($200,000): The commission plans to use this grant to inventory possible brownfield sites, prioritize them based on their possible benefit to the public, assess properties and create strategies for reuse. The commission's overall goal is to revitalize the region in part by returning the region's brownfields to active use.
  
• The Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission ($150,000): The commission will use these supplemental funds for assessments at a former drycleaner, coal gas plant and the Proctorsville Woolen Mill.
  
• Burlington ($100,000) The city will use this supplemental grant to assess the Central Vermont Railway Rail Yard; the Multi-modal Transportation Center and the South Winooski/Main Street lot.