Investing in Montague: EPA celebrates $5 million Brownfields grant for revitalization efforts
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Montague, Mass. (July 18, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced nearly $5 million in EPA Brownfields grant funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the cleanup of the Strathmore Mill complex. EPA was joined by the Town of Montague, Senator Markey, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MA DEP), Nolumbeka Project Chairman David Brule, and others. This celebration marks a big milestone for Montague, Massachusetts, highlighting the ongoing work taking place with the Commonwealth’s $35 million in EPA Brownfields grant funding, announced earlier this year, to revitalize and rehabilitate communities in Massachusetts.
“Today’s celebration is a win-win. These buildings that were once home to a booming and industrious place of economic growth, have in turn led to the burden of legacy pollution and contamination, creating unsafe, and unusable spaces for New England communities. These new brownfields grants represent revolutionary change by turning blight, into might,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “With new resources in hand, the Town of Montague will be able to remediate Strathmore Mill, and use the space in a way that benefits the needs of their community. That is what Investing in America is all about.”
EPA selected the Town of Montague for a $4,920,400 Brownfields Cleanup Grant that will be funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This grant funding will be used to clean up the Strathmore Mill property located at 20 Canal Road. The 1.3-acre cleanup site, constructed between 1874 and 1970 as a paper mill and consists of nine neighboring buildings, which were formerly used for manufacturing processes. These buildings are contaminated with inorganic contaminants, heavy metals, petroleum, and PCBs.
More than half of the funding available for this grant cycle (approximately $160 million nationwide) comes from the historic $1.5 billion investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). This investment has also allowed the maximum award amounts under BIL-funded Brownfields cleanup grants to increase significantly from $500,000 to a new maximum of $5 million per award.
At the event, EPA also celebrated the $2 million Community-Wide Assessment grant awarded to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. This grant will assist MA DEP in supporting a greater range of Brownfields assessment and redevelopment by providing technical and financial resources to make Brownfields assessment a statewide priority.
What They Are Saying
“I’m delighted that we’ve secured the funding we need to finally clean up the former Strathmore Mill complex and restore the waterfront,” said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. “This funding will help improve the lives of families in Turners Falls—and shows what government can do when federal and state partners work hand in hand.”
“The remediation of Strathmore Mill will transform this site from a community eyesore to a community asset,” said U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey. “Too often small communities are left without the help they need to tackle polluted or contaminated sites. But with the maximum amount of Brownfields cleanup grant funding expanded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to $5 million per award, the town of Montague will be able to use this incredible new funding to help remediate the entire Strathmore Mill complex, create a community green space, and enable waterfront access to the beautiful Connecticut River. It’s a win-win-win that will build a cleaner future for Montague and the Connecticut River Valley for decades to come.”
“This is a big deal for Montague. The funding that is supporting this project is a perfect example of why Congress voted to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The nearly $5 million in EPA Brownfields funding will not only address the long-standing environmental issues at the Strathmore Mill complex, it will also make a real, tangible difference in our community by transforming blighted areas into opportunities for growth and improvement,” said U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern. “This is what it looks like when local, state, and federal partners come together with a vision for the future and a plan to make a positive difference in the lives of the people we work for. I am proud to support these efforts and look forward to seeing the positive impacts on our community.”
“With this increase in federal funding, more brownfields will be transformed into green spaces and usable land for us all to enjoy. And with redevelopment, communities will see a boost in new jobs and tax revenue,” said Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. “We are grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration, the EPA, and our Congressional delegation for the significant increase in brownfields funding for Massachusetts this year. These funds will put once-contaminated sites back into productive re-use and help revitalize communities across the state.”
“Smaller cities and towns often lack the resources to clean up contaminated sites and put them to work for the community,” said Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bonnie Heiple. “We are grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration and EPA for the nearly 250 percent increase in brownfields funding to Massachusetts, which will make a real difference in spurring remediation and redevelopment work across the state.”
“This is a once-in a generation opportunity to redefine the community’s relationship to the Connecticut River,” said Montague Town Administrator Walter Ramsey. “Industrial blight will make way for riverfront recreation and improved river ecology in accordance with a community supported vision.”
More information
Both Brownfields grants celebrated today—to the Town of Montague and MA DEP—are part of the most recent round of funding that sent nearly $35 million to the Commonwealth. Most recently, EPA also celebrated $7 million in Brownfields grants going to the cities of Lawrence and Lowell, and the town of Clinton. In total, nearly 20 grants—including both Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) grants, as well are supplement funding for already high-performing projects—are making their way to Massachusetts in this latest round of funding.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $1.5 billion through EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program and funds over 350 programs to support planning, construction, and operation of a variety of public infrastructure projects. This investment in EPA’s Brownfields Program will transform countless lives and spur life-changing revitalization in communities large and small, urban and rural; all with the same desire to keep their neighborhoods healthy, sustainable and reflective of the people who call it home.
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available each year. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400 percent.
A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Redevelopment made possible through the program includes everything from grocery stores and affordable housing to health centers, museums, greenways, and solar farms.
Brownfields sites often lie in proximity to overburdened and vulnerable communities where people live, work, play, and pray. These funds serve to support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industrial and commercial properties and are part of a historic national EPA investment in Brownfields remediation. Brownfields funding helps begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges that have burdened these communities for far too long.
Background
Brownfields at EPA New England
2024 Massachusetts Brownfields Grants
Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities
Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/investing-montague-epa-celebrates-5-million-brownfields-grant-revitalization-efforts
