Mass. communities receive EPA brownfields grants

THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Agency said that Attleboro, New Bedford and Taunton each will receive EPA brownfields grants.
THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Agency said that Attleboro, New Bedford and Taunton each will receive EPA brownfields grants.

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded brownfields grants to Attleboro, New Bedford and Taunton.
The EPA awarded Attleboro three EPA brownfields cleanup grants totaling $600,000.
The three grants will help Attleboro to clean up areas 1, 2, and 3 of the former Reynolds & Markman property at 101 Olive St., which was previously used primarily for the storage, repackaging and distribution of chemicals, and also used for furniture making, jewelry manufacturing and landfill operations. Area 1 is contaminated with trichloroethylene. Area 2 is contaminated with metals. Area 3, a former landfill site, is contaminated with metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities, according to the EPA.
New Bedford will receive two grants, totaling $600,000. The first of the two grants is a $200,000 Area Wide Planning grant focusing on the Payne Cutlery Neighborhood to build on initial planning efforts that were conducted using EPA assessment funds. In addition, the city is receiving $400,000 in Community-Wide Assessment funding.
“EPA is proud to further assist New Bedford and its citizens with this brownfields funding,” Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA New England’s office, said in a statement. “Cleaning and revitalizing contaminated sites helps create jobs, and can be the catalyst to create new businesses or neighborhood centers, all while making our environment cleaner and the community healthier. With these grants, the City of New Bedford will have received over $4.1 million dollars in EPA brownfields funding. This is just one way EPA works to make a difference in communities all across Massachusetts and New England.”
The $400,000 Community-Wide Assessment grant will be used to assist New Bedford in its assessment of properties within the Upper Harbor District along a two-mile stretch of the Acushnet River that contains multiple former and current industrial properties. The city and community wish to redevelop this area of New Bedford into a riverwalk to provide members of the community with access to the waterfront and to spark investment in and redevelopment of underutilized mill buildings and former industrial properties.
Taunton received a $200,000 Community-Wide Assessment grant.
The funding is a portion of $10.3 million in EPA brownfields investments made across New England in 2015 to protect health and the environment, create jobs and promote economic redevelopment in communities.

Staff writer Nicole Dotzenrod contributed to this report.

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