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Region 1: EPA New England

Brownfield Cleanups A Boon for the Environment and the Economy; New Legislation Should Mean More Cleanups and Funding for the Granite State

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

CT | MA | NH | RI

By Robert W. Varney
December 2, 2002

For years, a burned-out building in Londonderry, NH sat abandoned and empty of anything but hundreds of unidentified chemicals that had been packaged and stored on the site for much of the 1980s and 1990s. The property, which had been owned most recently by a chemical products company before it went bankrupt in 1994, was a stark demonstration of the environmental damage that can occur when hazardous materials are mismanaged and left unattended.

Today, the five-acre parcel at Manchester Air Park has been cleaned of storage tanks, chemicals and contaminated oil and redeveloped for Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s regional distribution center. The project is an important part of a major expansion project by the Manchester Airport Development Authority.

This turnaround is among the 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. By targeting development to these sites, the assistance also is protecting precious open space from new development.

In New Hampshire alone, 303 properties and buildings have been assessed – more than in any other New England state – and 23 cleanups have been started using EPA funds. The cleanups have led to such redevelopment successes as a new municipal complex at a former construction company site in New Ipswich and a private investment of $2 million to create new commercial space at the former Whitney Screw property in Nashua that was recently occupied by new tenants, including New England’s largest bicycle dealership. In Londonderry, the cleanup of the five-acre property near the airport was helped by a $50,000 site assessment and additional funding to the state to develop a cleanup plan.

New Hampshire’s Brownfields Program has also been active. The NH Department of Environmental Services has provided assistance at more than 40 Brownfield sites and more than 25 sites have participated in the state’s Covenant Program, which provides liability protections to innocent landowners and prospective purchasers. Thirteen sites have already received covenants.

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 financial assistance to public entities and nonprofit groups 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 for public entities and nonprofit groups. 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 deadline for grant applications is Dec. 16.

Robert W. Varney is regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office.

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