EPA issues re-use awards for New England Superfund sites

BOSTON – The federal Environmental Protection Agency has given out “Superfund Excellence in Site Re-use” awards for projects that installed solar energy farms at former landfills in Massachusetts.

Two federally-listed Superfund sites were recognized, Iron Horse Park in Billerica and Sullivan’s Ledge in New Bedford, as the redevelopment projects transformed the previously underutilized properties into sources of abundant, clean, renewable energy, the agency said.

EPA also recognized Gov. Deval L. Patrick for his “visionary and ambitious agenda to make Massachusetts a national leader in renewable energy production, which has enabled projects such as these to be economically viable,” the agency said in a press release.
“For nearly 35 years, EPA has worked to identify and remediate the most contaminated parcels in New England to better protect people’s health and our environment,” Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office, said in a statement. “We are very pleased to recognize our first recipients of the EPA New England Superfund ‘Excellence in Site Re-use Award’ for implementing re-use projects on sites in Massachusetts that will benefit local communities for many years to come.”
“All across the country, EPA’s Superfund program is cleaning up sites and returning them to local communities for productive use. Repurposing these sites for renewable energy projects will provide clean energy for New England communities, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support economic development opportunities and help generate local jobs,” Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, said.
The Sullivan’s Ledge project team, including the city of New Bedford, Blue Wave Strategies and SunEdison, constructed a 2-megawatt solar power facility on the 12-acre former landfill.
The Shaffer Landfill is a 60-acre former municipal solid waste landfill in Billerica, and is part of the 533-acre Iron Horse Park Superfund site. The project team, including representatives from the town of Billerica, Urban Green Technologies Renewable Energy 7 LLC and Capital Dynamics Inc., constructed a 6- megawatt solar power facility on part of the landfill, while ensuring that both previous and ongoing efforts to remediate contamination would not be compromised.
In 2007, when Patrick came into office, Massachusetts only generated about three megawatts of solar power. Patrick set a goal of installing 250 megawatts of solar electricity capacity by 2017. There are now more than 680 megawatts of solar power installed across Massachusetts – enough to provide power for more than 100,000 homes, the agency said.

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