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TURNING STUMBLING BLOCKS INTO BUILDING BLOCKS

Release Date: 03/20/1998
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office, (617) 918-4154

Woodrow Wilson once described Rhode Island as a place that "was settled and is made up of people who found it unbearable to live anywhere else in New England." Wilson would have been pleased and impressed to see Rhode Islanders making the most bearable place in New England even more enjoyable. This is because last Thursday, Vice President Al Gore announced that the State of Rhode Island has been selected to receive federal assistance in addressing the state's brownfield properties -- abandoned or under used industrial and commercial properties, where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination. These properties, once productive mills or factories, are often left to waste, and become not only just eyesores, but in some cases public health and safety risks. Now that Rhode Island has been selected to be a "Brownfields Showcase Community," federal funds and know-how, combined with state efforts, will go a long way into turning some of these properties into community assets.

Two years ago, EPA provided the state with a $200,000 Brownfields Assessment grant to identify sites along the Woonasquatucket river that would be candidates for redevelopment. The "Showcase Community" designation takes this effort a step further by targeting two of these sites -- the former Riverside Mills and Lincoln Lace and Braid sites -- for $1.8 million in redevelopment funds and technical assistance, along with support from 15 federal agencies. These agencies -- Housing and Urban Development, Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration among them -- will address the Brownfields issue using a holistic approach, making the community part of the process.

Where our hands might have been tied in the past in trying to find local residents qualified to handle hazardous work remediation, we now have the Department of Labor on our side to provide job training funds and programs. Where we might have lacked the funding under a traditional Brownfields grant, we now will be able to tap into the Department of Justice's "weed and seed" program, which turns abandoned vacant lots into safe places for our children to play. Where we once had to face boarded up commercial space, we now have the Small Business Administration working to help urban businesses get off the ground. The collective knowledge and resources of such a broad-based government coalition will undoubtedly translate into a richer, more inclusive Brownfields program.

The fact that Rhode Island was one of only 16 communities selected out of 238 stands as testimony to the work the state had already done in addressing derelict properties. The Showcase Community designation builds upon some very impressive efforts, specifically those of the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project, an impressive effort aimed at restoring green space and spurring development along some of the river's most neglected banks. With federal assistance, the Greenway Project's goals of turning the Riverside Mills and Lincoln Lace and Braid sites into commercial as well as green space -- creating upwards of 100 jobs in the process -- will be realized. To a part of Providence in which almost 50 percent of the population lives in poverty, this means a lot. And that's not to mention the other very impressive efforts being undertaken by Rhode Island and the City of Providence to revitalize properties given up for lost. The Department of Environmental Management has successfully assisted in returning more than 20 properties around the state -- valued at upwards of $40 million -- back to beneficial use. Mayor Buddy Cianci's Vacant Lot Task Force has done a tremendous job in addressing and cleaning up literally hundreds of vacant lots in Providence that had formerly represented environmental risks, perpetuated neighborhood decline, and lowered property values. And Governor Lincoln Almond's and the Rhode Island Golf Association's work to turn a state park in disrepair into a golf course accessible to urban youth is laudable.

EPA's New England office is pleased and proud to be a partner in Rhode Island's Brownfields redevelopment efforts. In just three years, we have worked to make New England communities integral parts of EPA's Brownfields Program. Through the program, towns and municipalities from Limestone Maine to Bridgeport, Conn. have received 21 Brownfields grants, valued at more than $3.5 million. In fact, New England has received more Brownfields grants than any other region the country. Aside from handing out money, EPA has also initiated a number of other measures to remove many of the regulatory and legal obstacles previously associated with redeveloping contaminated properties. We have removed 1,150 sites from the Superfund master list of hazardous waste sites in New England, clearing the way for redevelopment. We have developed and issued guidance that clarifies the liability of prospective purchasers, lenders, property owners and others regarding their association with activities at the site, and to limit such liability where it is appropriate. And we intend to bring all of these tools and more to Rhode Island.

Once a major player in the industrial revolution, Providence is now the site of a very different revolution. We are embarking on a bold new experiment to work with the city and state and the cadre of federal agencies in turning what once were stumbling blocks into building blocks.

In the coming months the federal government will hold a forum in Providence to outline the services to be provided under the Showcase Communities designation, who's providing them, and the time line on which the project will proceed. Between now and then, we will also select a an individual who will work on Brownfields redevelopment in the state. By this time next year, we should be well on our way to assessing, cleaning up and returning a number of properties to productive use.

In a state whose motto is "Hope," we can look forward to local, state, and federal teamwork to providing some of that hope to Rhode Island's forgotten places.