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EPA Gives $500,000 Brownfields Grant to Berlin, Conn. for Cleanup Loans

Release Date: 05/18/2000
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Berlin, Conn. has been chosen to receive $500,000 of Brownfields assistance to set up a revolving loan fund to help pay for site cleanups in the community.

Berlin is among 15 recipients in New England and 102 nationally that have been chosen to receive a total of over $35 million in Brownfields grants. The funds are being used across the country for site assessments, revolving loan cleanup programs and Brownfields job training programs.

Berlin, an old industrial community with numerous abandoned and under-utilized sites, will use the funds to help finance Brownfields cleanup loans. Potential sites for the low-interest loans include the former National Automatics Products Co. property, the former Circuits Inc. site, the Christian Lane site and two tax delinquent sites that the town is monitoring.

"This grant will help jump start Berlin's efforts to clean up abandoned and contaminated sites so they can be put back to productive reuse," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office. "As a result, residents of Berlin can look forward to a cleaner environment, new jobs and more tax revenues for the community."

"These Brownfield grants act as both an economic and environmental garden for Connecticut," said U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd. "They weed out old and abandoned property and seed new economic and environmental life, ultimately leading to new jobs and a brighter future for our entire state."

"This is another red-letter day for Brownfields programs in Connecticut," said U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman. "These grants from EPA will provide a real boost to four more communities in our state that are actively working to rescue wasted places and capitalize on their economic and environmental potential. It is a wise investment that will pay tangible dividends in terms of fewer urban eyesores and more good jobs."

"This money will be a real boost to the diligent work that town officials have been conducting to promote Brownfields remediation," added U.S. Congressman John B. Larson. "For example, Berlin is one of the first communities in the state to sell tax liens on Brownfields sites. The EPA's Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund will likely encourage further development from both industrial and retail businesses. This is a perfect example of how the federal government is helping local communities continue to prosper through a team effort."

A total of $5.4 million in Brownfield grants were awarded today to 15 New England recipients. Other grants went to Brockton, North Adams, New Bedford and Gloucester in Massachusetts; Providence and two Rhode Island state agencies; Westbrook and Lewiston in Maine; the Windham Regional Commission in Vermont; and New London, Danbury, Naugatuck Valley and Middlesex Community College in Connecticut.