Governor Rell Announces EPA

Brownfield Funding for 3 Projects

Middletown Project Getting $200,000

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the state will be distributing $540,000 in federal brownfield funding to help Middletown and two other Connecticut towns assess and remediate brownfields for important economic and community development projects.

            Brownfields – parcels of contaminated land, often former industrial sites – can be cleaned up and turned into economic development opportunities, open space and other productive uses.

            In Middletown, the city will receive $200,000 to clean up the Remington Rand site at 180 Johnson Street. The state has already provided $765,000 for environmental investigations and infrastructure improvements to support the project and small businesses that operate at the site.

            “This latest funding will be used to actually do the environmental remediation that is needed at the former Remington Rand site,” Governor Rell said. “The city then plans to transfer it to a private owner to be used as small business ‘incubator’ space – a place for new firms to get a solid start. This will put the property back on the local tax rolls as productive source of revenue for the city while adding jobs back into the local economy.

            “With the global economic slump continuing to put enormous pressure on Connecticut families and employers, we are doing everything we can to help keep and create jobs,” the Governor said. “Continued investment helps these communities capitalize on existing assets and lays the foundation for a strong recovery. That is really why brownfields are such an attractive proposition – we are taking property that is not ‘working’ at its full potential and converting it into a community resource that reduces sprawl, preserves natural resources and creates economic opportunity for all.”

            Governor Rell thanked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which provided $600,000 in supplemental funding to the state’s Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund in August. The Department of Economic and Community Development, which administers the revolving loan fund, selected the projects.

            Other projects will clean up a parcel at 14 Bridge Street in Montville and complete environmental site assessments and remove underground storage tanks at a former textile mill and oil delivery service in Willimantic.