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EPA GIVES CITY OF WINSTED $200,000 BROWNFIELDS GRANT FOR ASSESSMENTS

Release Date: 06/21/1999
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the town of Winsted, Conn., was chosen to receive a $200,000 Brownfields assessment pilot grant targeting 16 parcels in five areas in the town.

Winsted is among three communities in Connecticut and 57 nationally that have been chosen a total of $11.4 million in Brownfields pilot grants, which are designed to help spur the assessment and cleanup of contaminated urban parcels so that they can be redeveloped. Haddam and New Milford also received grants.

The town of Winsted will use its $200,000 to conduct environmental site assessments on 16 parcels in five areas. EPA funds will also be used to hold community outreach activities, such as public meetings and fact sheets, and student outreach programs with a local community college. Plans for redevelopment include industrial, commercial and open space for walking trails.

"All over the country and all over New England, Brownfield sites like the ones in Winsted are being cleaned up and restored, thereby creating news jobs, new tax revenues and new urban vitality," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England Administrator. "This $200,000 grant will provide much-needed momentum to get the ball rolling in Winsted, beginning with the crucial first step of getting some of these sites assessed so we can determine how much they are contaminated."

DeVillars said the Brownfield program is among numerous initiatives the Clinton Administration has launched to revitalize the nation's cities. Among those efforts is the recently-proposed Better America Bonds initiative, which would give cities, states and tribal governments the ability to issue nearly $10 billion in bonds. The interest-free bonds could be used for preserving open space, creating parks, preserving wetlands and cleaning up Brownfield sites.

"In a small town that was once a mill town we need to make sure everything is environmentally safe," said Winsted Town Manager Margaret Johnson. "It's taken us a while to bounce back during the economic recovery, and that's partly because of the costs of studying old manufacturing sites to make sure they are aren't contaminated. This grant is a great thing for Winsted."

"This is another red letter day for Connecticut's Brownfields programs," U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman said. "These three communities are engaged in the hard work of turning urban eyesores into valuable resources, and this federal funding will help them go a long way toward realizing that goal."

"Brownfields literally plant the seeds of new economic and environmental life,' said U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd. "They replenish the land and turn old into new - ultimately sparking new jobs and economic vitality and a better quality of life for families in our state."

A total of $1.4 million in Brownfield grants were awarded today to seven New England communities, including the following:

• Haddam will use its $156,000 grant from EPA to focus on three properties in the Higganum Center. Funds will be used to perform and environmental assessment of the sites, develop cleanup plans and plan for reuse of the sites for small business incubator space, retail space, community space, an artists's cooperative or a maintenance facility.
• New Milford will use its $200,000 to target "The Premises," which consists of more than 72 acres of industrially zoned property. EPA funds will be used for conducting site assessments, planning for cleanup and holding a community forum. There will probably be a commercial use for the targeted area.