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EPA to Assist in Redeveloping Contaminated Properties in Boston

Release Date: 04/07/1999
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1064

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England Office announced today that two abandoned, contaminated sites in Boston will be assessed as part of EPA's Brownfields program. The Ferdinand Block/DPH site, located 18 Warren Street, is a 5-acre former commercial property in Boston's Dudley Square neighborhood. It is slated for a 200,000 square-foot office building in which the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has expressed interest in relocating the Department of Public Health offices. This redevelopment represents a potential $40 million investment in Dudley Square.

The City of Boston has proposed the 27-acre former Boston Specialty and Rehabilitation Hospital located at 249 River Street in Dorchester for residential use. The existing hospital buildings located on thirteen acres of the site would be converted to an affordable assisted care living facility. The remaining 14 acres are to be developed with traditional single family housing.

Under the agency's Brownfields program, environmental consultants contracted by EPA will perform the assessments B valued at approximately $75,000 each B to determine the nature and extent of contamination on the properties, and to estimate the costs of cleaning up the site for redevelopment. The assessments, which are scheduled to begin by early summer, generally take several months to complete.

EPA will invest $300,000 in this round of funding to assess environmental conditions at specific sites in three New England communities B Boston, MA, Franklin, NH, and Prospect, CT. Since January, 1999, EPA has committed a total of $1.12 million to redevelop New England Brownfields sites.

"This is an investment in New England's urban centers. Suburban sprawl threatens our environmental and economic future. One way to control sprawl is to reuse forgotten, abandoned urban properties and turn them into urban economic development opportunities," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England Administrator. "Brownfields redevelopment is an example of smart economics and smart growth. These site assessments are important steps towards reuse of these properties."

"Congress, the Clinton Administration, and EPA are committed to cleaning up these old, contaminated Brownfield sites so they can be used again for worthwhile purposes in communities across the country," said U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. "These funds are an important step that will enhance our efforts in Boston and Massachusetts to build stronger communities by providing clean and safe sites for community revitalization."

"These funds will help the City of Boston begin the process of economic and environmental revitalization at these Brownfield sites," stated U.S. Senator John F. Kerry. AThis assistance will enable Boston to create a cleaner and healthier environment for its children."

"Redeveloping Brownfields into usable parcels of land makes environmental as well as economic sense. The EPA's plans to fund environmental assessment of these Boston sites is an important step toward ensuring that the land is returned to functional use," stated 8th District Rep. Michael E. Capuano.

Brownfields are abandoned or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is being thwarted by real or perceived environmental contamination. EPA's Brownfields program has evolved into a collaborative effort involving more than 15 federal partners. EPA-New England has helped communities restore and develop dozens of contaminated urban properties across New England, resulting in the creation of thousands of jobs and generating millions of dollars in income and revenue.