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EPA Awards $200,000 in Brownfields Grants to Three Connecticut Towns

Release Date: 06/17/2002
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1014

PLYMOUTH, CONN. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $200,000 in grants to the towns of Plymouth, Shelton and Greenwich for evaluating brownfield properties, sites that are underused or abandoned because of contamination concerns. The Targeted Brownfields Assessment grants will fund EPA contractors to assess contamination and estimate cleanup costs at sites in the three towns, providing information the towns need to pursue cleanups and eventual redevelopment.

"Across New England, towns like Plymouth are working very hard to make their downtowns productive and livable," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office, speaking at a news conference today in Plymouth. "These site assessments are an important step in helping communities assess underutilized properties so they can be reused in the future."

EPA estimates that there are between 500,000 and one million brownfields properties in the country. EPA has awarded $13 million of brownfields grants in Connecticut, part of $52 million in New England. These grants have led to 640 completed site assessments, $300 million dollars leveraged for redevelopment, and 2,050 jobs created across New England.

The three towns where assessments will be carried out are:

Plymouth -- Hart Property, 268 Main Street
The ½-acre site formerly housed an automotive repair facility, a dry cleaner and a machine shop. The town is in the process of buying the property from the current owners. The planned reuse is to develop a cultural heritage park with the historic waterwheel on the property as the centerpiece. The site assessment will aid the town in determining what environmental contamination exists. The site assessment will cost an estimated $50,000.

Greenwich -- Former Cos Cob Power Plant, 22 Soundshore Drive
The town of Greenwich took ownership of this former coal fired power plant in the late 1990's with a vision of creating public access to the waterfront. With Connecticut DEP's assistance the town demolished and disposed of the asbestos contaminated buildings on the 9-acre site in 2000. The site assessment will provide important information as the town moves forward in redeveloping the site into a waterfront public park. The site assessment will cost an estimated $75,000.

Shelton -- MAS Property/Citytrust Site, Bridgeport Avenue
This FDIC-owned 8-acre site was a dump for 40 years before the owner went bankrupt. The city is working with the FDIC to purchase and redevelop the site into a business park and open space in conjunction with other properties it owns adjacent to this site. The EPA site assessment will allow Shelton to formulate a cleanup strategy for the site. The site assessment will cost an estimated $75,000.