EPA awards nearly $2M to clean up contaminated properties in Maine
Several contaminated “brownfield” properties in Maine will receive a combined total of $1.85 million in federal funding to assess, clean up and eventually redevelop the sites.
“We are pleased that the EPA has designated these sites throughout Maine as recipients of the vital federal funding for brownfields cleanups,” U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said in a joint statement announcing the awards by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “These grants represent a continued and welcomed investment in the environmental and economic revitalization of Maine communities.”
A brownfields site is a property that contains a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant, which hinders the potential to reuse or redevelop the site. The EPA's Brownfields Program assists states and local communities as they assess, safely clean up and reuse brownfield sites for economic development projects.
The recipients and funding allocations:
- Berwick: $200,000 for cleanup
- Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments: $200,000 for site assessment
- Hallowell: $300,000 for site assessment
- Maine Department of Environmental Protection: $300,000 for site assessment
- Bangor: $200,000 for site assessment
- Eastern Maine Development Corp. for Bucksport: $200,000 for an area-wide planning grant; $125,000 for technical assistance
- Our Katahdin LLC for Millinocket: $200,000 for cleanup; $125,00 for technical assistance.
The January 2017 assessment from the Economic Development Assessment Team — originally requested in March 2016 by Sens. Collins and King — highlighted the importance of the Brownfields Program and its potential to leverage federal resources to redevelop former industrial sites, support the viability of impacted mill communities and help to grow Maine’s rural economy, which has been hit hard by paper mill closures in recent years.
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