All News Releases By Date

EPA Awards Claremont, N.H. $200,000 for Brownfield Redevelopment Project; Part of More than $2 million Given to Communities in New England

Release Date: 05/20/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617) 918-1013

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it will spend $2.25 million to help assess, clean and redevelop abandoned, contaminated sites throughout New England, including $200,000 for a project in Claremont, N.H..

"Reclaiming America's brownfields properties is an effective way to help revitalize and reinvigorate our nation's blighted neighborhoods while at the same time preventing urban sprawl," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.

In all, three brownfields projects in New Hampshire – in Claremont and Nashua as well as one through the New Hampshire Office of State Planning's Coastal Program – received grants today totaling $500,000. They were part of more than $14 million in brownfields grants to assess the contamination of abandoned properties that were given to 80 communities around the nation today.

"These grants will bring much needed momentum to community brownfields programs in Claremont, in New Hampshire, and all across New England," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office. "Dozens of contaminated sites in the region have already been successfully restored through this program. The money we offer to the communities in our region today ensures even more successes down the road."

The city of Claremont received $200,000 for a site brownfield assessment. The grant targets four city-owned or controlled properties that supported a range of past industrial operations and will identify and prioritize privately owned brownfield sites requiring environmental assessment.

The city's objective is to return brownfield sites in the downtown and mill districts to the city's market and tax rolls, while encouraging a mixed-use redevelopment of the reclaimed properties. Claremont officials plan to accomplish this by performing site assessments on priority sites and preparing cleanup and reuse plans for these sites. The grant will also fund community involvement activities.

"Claremont is delighted to have received this assistance from EPA," said Jill Michaels, Claremont's economic development director. " The grant will allow the city to add an important component to its toolbox for marketing properties – the ability to provide prospects with definitive information on any steps that might need to be taken to redevelop brownfields' properties to meet state and federal environmental standards. This takes the mystery and guess work out of this important component of the redevelopment process and makes these properties more attractive to potential developers"

N.H. Department of Environmental Services (DES) Assistant Commissioner Dana Bisbee said, "The city of Claremont is to be commended for having its vision to preserve its rich heritage of historic manufacturing structures and for acting on that vision by initiating an application for EPA brownfields grant money."

Noting that DES has already established a special manager for this project – someone who will serve in a critical community liason role working closely with both city officials and the public – Bisbee added, "Brownfields redevelopment efforts have proven successful in other communities across our state, and DES is committed to ensuring the success of this important revitalization enterprise."

Earlier this year, President Bush signed bipartisan legislation that will encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of old industrial properties – cleaning up our environment, creating jobs and protecting small businesses from frivolous lawsuits. In addition, the President's fiscal year 2003 budget request doubled the funds available through the EPA in FY 02 – from $98 million to $200 million – to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites.

Under the EPA's Brownfields Assessment Program, communities receive funding to assess contamination at abandoned and vacant sites and to estimate the costs of cleaning up sites for redevelopment. Communities also receive funding to establish revolving loan programs allowing them to provide low interest loans to clean up these sites. Once assessed and cleaned, these sites can be put back into productive use by the community.

"Brownfields reclamation is one of the great environmental success stories of the past decade," Whitman said. "But the story is hardly over. EPA and its partners in every state of the union are ready to write the next chapter in the brownfields story. Given the commitment of this Administration, I can guarantee you that story will have a very happy ending."

These grants bring the total amount that EPA has spend on brownfields projects in New Hampshire to date to nearly $6 million.

For more information, visit the following EPA Web sites:

Smart Growth

Brownfields

New England Success Stories