Region 1: EPA New England
Brownfield Cleanups A Boon for the Environment and the Economy; New Legislation Should Mean More Cleanups and Funding for Bay State
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
By Robert W. Varney
November
8, 2002
For decades, 200 industrial acres in the Mystic River Valley north of Boston sat deteriorating, a sad reminder of New England’s industrial decline, a stark demonstration of the environmental damage progress can cause.
Today, these 200 acres in Everett, Malden and Medford are being cleaned and redeveloped to bring jobs, energy and green space back to an area that once served as the center of the region’s economy. TeleCom City, a project involving all three communities, will include 1.8 million square feet of office, laboratory and manufacturing space, as well as 200 units of housing and 60 acres of designated green space.
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.
In Massachusetts alone, 142 properties and buildings have been assessed and 55 cleanups started using EPA funds. The cleanups have led to such redevelopment successes as a new hotel in downtown Worcester, a new riverfront industrial park in New Bedford and a new elderly housing facility in Somerville.
The state’s Brownfields Program has also been active, funding 258 site assessments and 25 cleanup loans. More than two-dozen communities also have received funding for planning and other activities related to the Brownfields Covenant Not to Sue Program.
EPA has given a total of $1 million to the Mystic Valley Development Commission and its TeleCom City project. Among the most recent grants was $45,000 under EPA’s “Smart Growth: Saving Open Space, Revitalizing Brownfields” program. This funding was announced this summer by EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to support Brownfield projects that incorporate the tenets of Smart Growth. This means supporting projects that have such features as compact building designs, a range of housing opportunities, walkable neighborhoods and a variety of transportation choices.
At TeleCom City, the Smart Growth funds will be used to design 200 to 250 units of housing on eight acres in Everett. Ten to 20 percent of these housing units will be affordable housing.
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/ne/brownfields or by calling Lynne Jennings at 617-918-1210. 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