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EPA Awards $200,000 Brownfields Grant to Newtown, Connecticut

Release Date: 08/06/2008
Contact Information: Jeanethe Falvey, 617.918.1020

(Boston, Mass. – August 6, 2008) The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) presented a $200,000 Brownfields cleanup grant to the Town of Newtown, Connecticut today. This grant will help fund the cleanup of the 185 acre Fairfield Hills Complex on Mile High Rd in Newtown.
EPA’s Brownfields program helps communities cleanup and revitalize property, of which redevelopment might be complicated or hindered by the presence of pollution or hazardous substances. The town of Newtown was one of two Connecticut communities recently selected through a competitive national process to receive a Brownfields cleanup grant, the Borough of Naugatuck received the second.

"EPA’s Brownfields program has had incredible success helping New England communities revitalize overlooked and abandoned properties,” said Robert W. Varney, Regional Administrator of EPA's New England regional office. "What were once perhaps dangerous or unsightly parcels of land can now become a source of revenue as they provide for skilled jobs, greater real estate potential and a cleaner environment.”

In Newtown, CT this grant funding will be used to clean up various inorganic hazardous materials left behind from former activities within the 185 acre Fairfield Hills Complex on Mile Hill Rd. Part of this site housed a mental health hospital from the 1930s to the 1990s. After cleanup is completed portions of the site are expected to be reused for a new recreation center and office and retail space.

“We are looking forward to working with the EPA to improve the environmental conditions on this site and we are most excited about removing the present health risks and revitalizing the campus,” stated Elizabeth Stocker, the Director of Planning and Community Development for Newtown, CT.

EPA's Brownfields program promotes redevelopment of the estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in the United States. In addition to industrial and commercial redevelopment, Brownfields projects have converted industrial waterfronts to riverfront parks, rail corridors to recreational trails, landfills to golf courses and gas stations to housing. Municipalities and select organizations can also receive funding for cleanup grants and to establish revolving loan programs that provide low interest loans for cleanups.

For more information on the Brownfields program please visit:

- Brownfields in New England (epa.gov/region1/brownfields)