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EPA Awards Brownfields Grant to Lewiston; Part of 80 Grants Nationwide

Release Date: 05/20/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617) 918-1013

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it will spend $2.25 million to help assess, clean and redevelop abandoned, contaminated sites throughout New England, including $150,000 for a project in Lewiston, Maine.

"Reclaiming America's brownfields properties is an effective way to help revitalize and reinvigorate our nation's blighted neighborhoods while at the same time preventing urban sprawl," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.

The brownfield project funded in Lewiston is part of more than $14 million in grants to assess the contamination of abandoned properties that were given to in 80 communities around the nation today.

"These grants will bring much needed momentum to community brownfields programs in Lewiston and all across New England," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office. "Dozens of contaminated sites in the region have already been successfully restored through this program. The money we offer to the communities in our region today ensures even more successes down the road."

Lewiston will put its $150,000 in to an ongoing Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot program. With the decline of the New England textile industry, the city was left with a stagnant downtown center and a polluted river. The Androscoggin River has already been cleaned up and Lewiston's downtown and waterfront are being energized by redevelopment efforts underway at the once abandoned 1.2 million square-foot Bates Mill Complex.

The city plans to build on the momentum of the Bates Mill Complex redevelopment by assessing, cleaning up and redeveloping the nearby W.S. Libbey Mill site and two smaller properties along the city's eastern gateway. A conference and performing arts center is planned for the two-acre W.S. Libbey Mill site, and there is significant interest in economic redevelopment of small properties at 51 Middle St. and 46 Chapel St., which occupy a potentially contaminated landfill behind the L.L. Bean telemarketing center.

Lewiston's objective is to accelerate its transformation by undertaking several projects that will attract more people into the city's revitalized downtown and waterfront area.

"Lewiston is humming with downtown activity today, and this brownfields funding is a welcome boost to furthering our redevelopment efforts," said Alyson Stone, the grants coordinator for the city. " We intend to target the W.S. Libbey Mill and other abandoned and underdeveloped properties identified for commercial re-use. We hope to be able to expand our tax base and create jobs for residents of our Enterprise Community. The EPA's support of our Brownfields program is a wonderful endorsement for the city and its initiatives to transform our downtown into a bustling , vibrant community once again."

Earlier this year, President Bush signed bipartisan legislation that will encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of old industrial properties – cleaning up our environment, creating jobs and protecting small businesses from frivolous lawsuits. In addition, the President's fiscal year 2003 budget request doubled the funds available through the EPA in FY 02 – from $98 million to $200 million – to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites.

Under the EPA's Brownfields Assessment Program, communities receive funding to assess contamination at abandoned and vacant sites, and to estimate the costs of cleaning up sites for redevelopment. Communities also receive funding to establish revolving loan programs allowing them to provide low interest loans to clean up these sites. Once assessed and cleaned, these sites can be put back into productive use by the community.

"Brownfields reclamation is one of the great environmental success stories of the past decade," Whitman said. "But the story is hardly over. EPA and its partners in every state of the union are ready to write the next chapter in the brownfields story. Given the commitment of this administration, I can guarantee you that story will have a very happy ending."

These grants bring the total amount that EPA has spend on brownfields projects in Maine to date to approximately $4 million.

For more information, visit the following EPA Web sites:

Smart Growth

Brownfields

New England Success Stories