Region 1: EPA New England
Brownfield Cleanups A Boon for the Environment and the Economy; New Legislation Should Mean More Cleanups and Funding for CT
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By Robert W. Varney
November 22, 2002
For years, a former railroad yard on the Thames River in New London sat contaminated and deteriorating, a sad reminder of New England’s manufacturing decline, a stark demonstration of the environmental damage progress can cause.
Today, the one-acre property has been taken over by the city and combined with other properties to make way for a popular waterfront boardwalk that opened last year. The project is part of a comprehensive plan to open the city back up to the waterfront and take advantage of its recreational and educational resources.
This turnaround is among many success stories being heard around New England as the eight-year-old federal Brownfields Program bears fruit.
Since 1995, EPA New England has provided more than $56 million of Brownfields assistance - for grants, site evaluations, job training and cleanup loan programs - to dozens of communities and agencies around the region. The assistance has led to 630 site assessments, more than 100 cleanups and thousands of new jobs. And, by targeting development to these sites, the assistance also is protecting precious open space from new development.
In Connecticut alone, 150 properties and buildings have been assessed and 17 cleanups started using EPA funds. The cleanups have led to such redevelopment successes as a new 10-acre park and 5,500-seat baseball park in Bridgeport, a new Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership in Stamford and restoration of riverbanks along the Naugatuck River in Derby for a new park, marina and pedestrian/bicycle path. In New London, the cleanup of the rail property for a new Waterfront Boardwalk and Discovery Pier was helped by a $50,000 site assessment.
The state’s Brownfields Program has also been active, with the CT Department of Environmental Protection’s Urban Sites Remedial Action Program investing over $40 million in cleanups over the past 10 years. Two of these cleanups resulted in projects that won prestigious Phoenix awards – the North Colony Street Industrial Park in Meriden and the Pfizer Global Research & Development Headquarters in New London. Additionally, the CT Department of Economic and Community Development invested $92 million in site cleanups of 77 acres last year (along with $284 million of non-DECD funds). These investments helped create or retain more than 2,600 jobs.
Emboldened by the success and huge popularity of the program, President Bush and Congress enacted new Brownfields legislation this year that will double the funds available for Brownfields work – boosting annual funding to roughly $200 million a year – and make more properties eligible for cleanups.
The new law will greatly expand federal financial assistance for Brownfield revitalization, including grants for assessments, loans, cleanups and job training. It also provides new liability protections for prospective purchasers and greatly enhances state and tribal programs, which continue to play a critical role in restoring and revitalizing Brownfields.
Guidelines that were recently approved as part of the new legislation include various new precedents, including:
- broadening the eligibility for funding to include sites with petroleum contamination
- providing cleanup grants to eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations that own property they wish to clean up
- allowing local governments to use up to 10 percent of the funds for monitoring the health of local populations exposed to hazardous wastes.
In October, nearly 200 representatives from cities, towns, state agencies, tribes, nonprofit groups and consulting firms attended meetings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to learn about the new legislation and upcoming funding opportunities. Based on feedback at these meetings, we expect to see many exciting projects move forward in the months ahead.
Information on financial assistance that is available can be found at www.epa.gov/region1/brownfields or by calling Lynn Jennings at 617-918-1012. The application deadline for assessment, cleanup and revolving loan grants is Dec. 16.
Robert W. Varney is regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office.