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EPA Gives $500,000 Brownfields Grant to New Bedford 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 New Bedford 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 city.

New Bedford is among 15 recipients in New England and 102 nationally that have been chosen to receive a total of $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.

New Bedford, with assistance from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, will use the funds to issue low-interest cleanup loans for 25 Brownfield sites that have been identified for potential cleanup and reuse. The loans, which will be issued and managed through the New Bedford Economic Development Council, are expected to be in the $50,000 to $100,000 range.

The grant follows $525,000 of earlier Brownfields assistance to New Bedford for site investigations and job training programs.

"This grant will help jump start New Bedford'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, who announced the grant at a news conference today at New Bedford City Hall. "As a result, residents of New Bedford can look forward to a cleaner environment, new jobs and more tax revenues for the community."

"Since 1998, my administration has looked at Brownfields sites as opportunities rather than liabilities," said New Bedford Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. "Redevelopment at former Brownfields sites such as Talleyrand in the Industrial Park, the Standard Times Field and the former Star Store is testimony to the opportunity that these sites present. I am honored and thankful that EPA has chosen to recognize and further contribute to these efforts by awarding New Bedford a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant."

"Congress, the Clinton Administration and EPA are committed to revitalizing these polluted sites that once were given up for dead," said U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. "Neighborhoods and businesses across the country are proving that the best days of these Brownfields are in the future, not in the past. These efforts will enhance the impressive efforts by New Bedford to clean up their Brownfields and turn them into new engines for job creation and economic growth."

"These grants provide tremendous capital resources to cities striving to address the most pressing issue facing many urban centers," said U.S. Senator John Kerry. "Brownfields redevelopment is at the heart of the urban revitalization movement and these grants provide us with a strategic approach to identification and cleanup."

"I am very pleased that our joint efforts have produced this important federal grant," said U.S. Congressman Barney Frank. "At the request of city officials and because I know how important the Brownfields program is to New Bedford, I made it a high priority to work to secure this approval. I am grateful to the EPA for recognizing both the need and the commitment of the city of New Bedford to use these funds well."

A total of $5.4 million in Brownfields grants were awarded today to 15 New England recipients, including $1.34 million to four Massachusetts communities. Other grants went to Brockton, North Adams 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, Berlin, Danbury, Naugatuck Valley and Middlesex Community College in Connecticut.