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EPA AWARDS NEARLY $1 MILLION IN BROWNFIELDS FUNDS TO MASSACHUSETTS

Release Date: 07/15/1998
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office, (617) 918-4154

BOSTON - The Environmental Protection Agency awarded nearly $1 million in funds today to Massachusetts municipalities and organizations to revitalize abandoned "brownfield" sites whose redevelopment has thus far been thwarted by contamination.

The grants include $200,000 to Brockton and Mansfield; $200,000 to the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission in Fitchburg; $200,000 to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for work in Amesbury, and; $195,862 to Colrain.

As part of today's announcement, the EPA's New England office awarded nearly $1.8 million in grants and services to New England municipalities for brownfields activities. Since the program's inception four years ago, New England towns and municipalities from Limestone Maine to Bridgeport, Conn. have now received 38 brownfields grants, valued at more than $6.5 million.

"These investments achieve three critical objectives: they improve the health of urban neighborhoods, advance economic opportunity in our cities, and reduce sprawl by channeling development away from fields and forests," said John P. DeVillars, administrator of the EPA's New England Office. "We need to start working harder to reduce the urban sprawl that is increasingly leading to the loss of New England's precious habitats. Our brownfields program does just that. By providing incentives for businesses and developers to reuse abandoned properties in our cities and towns, we help protect virgin ecosystems from the developer's bulldozer."

"Massachusetts municipalities are at the forefront of using the innovative services available through brownfields grants," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. "The awards to Brockton, Colrain, Mansfield, the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission in Fitchburg, and the Massachusetts DEP will expedite the effort to reclaim contaminated industrial sites and revitalize the local economies."

"These grants will enable the selected communities to create a cleaner and healthier environment for their citizens," said Sen. John F. Kerry. "In addition, these funds will help expand the local tax base and create jobs by converting these abandoned and vacant properties into revitalized businesses."

"This funding will allow the city of Brockton to move ahead toward reclaiming industrial lands. These efforts should help spur both economic development and the creation of new jobs," said Rep. Joe Moakley. "Under Mayor Jack Yunits' leadership, Brockton is undergoing an economic renaissance. This EPA grant demonstrates the federal government's commitment to being a catalyst for economic development."

"This grant is a good start, but it is clearly not enough," said Rep. Barney Frank. "I will continue fighting to increase the resources that are provided for this purpose so that all communities that have brownfields sites can benefit from the program."

"Every school child in Massachusetts understands the value of recycling," said Rep. Bill Delahunt, who has worked closely with Brockton and the EPA on the brownfields initiative. "By revitalizing these contaminated sites to enhance downtown development, we can transform environmental obstacles into economic opportunities."

"We must be very aggressive in our fight to clean up contaminated sites. This funding will go a long way toward that effort in Mansfield,"said Rep. Jim McGovern. "By cleaning up brownfields, we help make our environment safe for our families. We also improve economic development by making these sites viable once again for business."

"This is very good news for the city of Amesbury," Rep. John F. Tierney said. "This grant will begin the process of getting this site cleaned up for future development and hopefully for creating new jobs."

"We appreciate EPA's assistance to promote the redevelopment of these sites," said DEP Commissioner David B. Struhs. "But it is imperative that the legislature enact brownfields legislation pending before it without further delay to provide the financial incentives and liability relief needed to encourage developers to clean up and reuse thousands of additional contaminated sites throughout the commonwealth."

In Colrain, two potential purchasers have expressed interest in the American Fiber & Finishing site that closed in 1996, but decided against purchasing because of uncertainty over contamination issues. AF&F was once the town's largest employer and taxpayer, and 160 people lost their jobs when the facility closed. Individual real estate taxes are rising almost $400 per property to make up for the lost tax revenues from the of AF&F.

Contamination -- specifically in the form of polluted public water -- limits the reuse potential of the site. The project goal is to reuse the AF&F site to create jobs, rebuild the tax base, and implement a legal process by which Colrain can redevelop brownfields without assuming liability. EPA funds will be used to help pay for site assessment; development of cleanup, financing and redevelopment plans; legal counsel; and stakeholder outreach.

Many of the abandoned, contaminated sites in the Montachusett Region in north-central Massachusetts are located along rivers, wetlands, and watersheds. The condition of these sites reduces the safety and viability of the surrounding natural resources and cripples the region in terms of lost private and public revenues. The recent closure of Fort Devens has resulted in an overall decline in the region's economy.

The overall goal is to return sites with real or perceived contamination to the market. The goal of the EPA's funded portion is to clean at least two sites and return them to active use. EPA funds will be used for developing an inventory of sites and reuse plans, stakeholder identification and involvement, and site selection, assessment, characterization, and prioritization.

Brockton is developing an Economic Corridor running through the center of the city that contains most of the city's industrially zoned land and is the city's last major resource for industrial growth. The sites targeted for this project are two shoe manufacturing sites and two other sites for which site assessments were developed prior to the pilot. Approximately one-third of the city is considered brownfields. There are 100 sites in Brockton currently listed by the Massachusetts DEP as hazardous waste sites, and a majority of them lie within or near the Economic Corridor. Although only some of these are abandoned, their contaminated status serves as an impediment to attracting business.

The goal is to seek the EPA's support to assess the two former shoe manufacturing sites and develop reuse plans for all four sites. The brownfields pilot will be conducted as an integrated part of the city's overall economic development program. In addition to EPA funding, the city is hoping to access several other forms of EPA brownfields redevelopment assistance, including technical support and links to other federal agencies.

Mansfield's targeted areas include two former industrial sites. One is the H&P Site, a former creosote wood treatment/manufacturing facility that operated from 1953-1993. The other is the Clemmey Tank Building adjacent to the H&P Site. The principal contaminants of concern are arsenic, copper, chrome, and petroleum products. Seepage of contaminants from the H&P Site poses risks to the residents of Mansfield and downstream communities. These sites were chosen as the focus of this initiative due to their central location and proximity to a new downtown train station development project.

Mansfield seeks to assess the immediate levels of contamination on the sites and determine the extent of pollution. Brownfields funds will be leveraged to create additional retail and light commercial properties in an appropriately zoned parcel of land. Grant funds will be used to complete site assessments and define applicable environmental property insurance programs.

The Massachusetts DEP will create a model using an abandoned high tech site in Amesbury that will address the redevelopment issues posed by state-enforced priority liens. The environmental conditions at the site plus the lien clouding the title complicate the potential for redevelopment. This property is in an area desirable for real estate redevelopment and in need of employment opportunities. DEP has already spent $1.5 million to deal with the immediate risks posed by contamination on the site, but also has many other sites around the state to work on with limited resources.

The goals for this project are to create a model that will enable private parties to assume responsibility for cleanup and redevelopment of the 78 sites in the state with liens, and to work with partners to return sites to the economic base of communities. EPA funds will be used for a phase II site assessment, risk characterization, remediation technology evaluation, and property and building assessment. In addition to this funding, DEP is looking for assistance from the EPA in identifying and evaluating technologies -- particularly innovative ones -- for application at this site.