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FEDERAL EPA GIVES MORE THAN $1 MILLION FOR BROWNFIELDS AND SMART GROWTH; PROJECTS TO BENEFIT NEW HAMPSHIRE ARE WORTH $150,000

Release Date: 12/16/1999
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week announced more than $1 million in funding to help cities and towns throughout New England grow in ways that protect the quality and health of their communities.

The funding includes a total of $225,000 in Livable Communities Grants, which are being awarded for the first time this year to help seven communities and regions manage their growth. The funding also includes $785,000 for 12 Targeted Brownfields Assessments to assess contamination at vacant or underutilized properties, which the communities plan to redevelop.

EPA-New England announced this week it will perform two targeted brownfields assessments worth $150,000 in New Hampshire. EPA will perform an assessment worth $75,000 for the town of Milton at the Former Tannery Site, a 4.7-acre abandoned site where the town demolished a mill to protect public health. The town is proposing to use the site as a location for the new fire station.

EPA also will provide $75,000 to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) for the town of Mont Vernon. DES will perform a targeted brownfields assessment at the 20-acre Kaminski Property, which was used as a dumping grounds by a commercial/residential builder. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services recently completed an emergency removal action and the town envisions a residential use for the property.

Mindy Lubber, EPA-New England's Deputy Administrator, noted that plans by communities to reuse vacant or abandoned lots, known as brownfields, play a major role in revitalizing urban centers and protecting open spaces from sprawl.

"These grants to assess contamination and clean-up requirements for old and abandoned parcels will help communities put the land to good use in the future," Lubber said. "Communities who are actively looking for ways to renew their urban centers can count on our support and encouragement."

Funds for Targeted Brownfields Assessments are also going to projects in Lowell, Holyoke, Northampton, Gloucester and Quincy, Mass., Providence, RI; Orono, Maine; and Derby and Shelton, Conn.

Organizations that have been chosen to receive the first round of Livable Community Grants are:

• The Conservation Law Foundation, based in Boston, for developing a guidebook to help New England towns and cities use zoning to curb sprawl;
• Connecticut River Watershed Council to convene a growth forum on urban revitalization and sustainable agriculture in the valley between Hartford and Springfield;
• Charles River Watershed Association to help the town of Holliston, Mass., assess future drinking water and wastewater disposal needs and develop related land use plans;
• Vermont Forum on Sprawl for a project to identify best practices for new development in Chittenden County and Vermont and include them in a guidebook;
• Alternatives for Community Environment, a Boston-based organization, to help bring together community residents to promote smart growth strategies for two to four sites in Roxbury.
• Mad River Valley Planning District in Vermont to direct development around the Irasville area towards a growth center and relieve pressures in rural areas of Irasville.
• Maine State Planning Office for its Home Town Maine project to stem sprawl and restore neighborhoods around the state.

"We are delighted to support communities throughout New England who are taking a lead in developing critical tools and methods for addressing unchecked and unplanned development," Deputy Administrator Lubber said this week. "Through these and other smart growth efforts, we can make New England a national model for livability in the 21st Century."