Governor Dannel P. Malloy is in California today shaking the trees for campaign cash. But one of the executive agencies, the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) today awarded about $1.7 million in “assessment grants” to 11 cities and towns to begin cleanups at old industrial sites called brownfields. One of the communities is Ansonia, where on Tuesday, Republican challenger Tom Foley took a walking tour, including working and former industirla locations. The Farrel Co. site where Foley spent some time with Mayor David Cassetti and company officials, is right next to the 44-acre former Ansonia Brass and Copper site for which the city was awarded $200,000.
“The investments we are making to remediate and redevelop brownfields depend on a thorough analysis of the level of contaminated soils or building materials or the need for demolition at any given site,” Malloy said in a statement from his Capitol office. “We designed these grants to help eliminate the uncertainty of the redevelopment process by helping municipalities, developers and site owners get properties one step closer to productive reuse. We know that an investment in planning for the cleanup of pollution on these sites will have pay long term dividends for the State by driving community revitalization, eliminating blight, returning properties to the tax rolls and boosting long-term economic growth.”
The governor pointed out that since 2011, his administration has allocated nearly $90 million in state funding for brownfield remediation and redevelopment in the form of loans and grants to municipalities and developers. “Last month, DECD awarded $27 million to 20 remediation and redevelopment projects, which was the largest round of brownfield remediation investments ever made in the state’s history,” he said. “For every dollar invested by the State, $3.43 has been or will be invested by non-State partners,” Here are some of the awards:
· Ansonia was awarded $200,000 for investigation of an approximately six-acre portion of the former Ansonia Copper and Brass site in the heart of Ansonia, which could support a mix of redevelopment uses.
· Stratford was awarded $200,000 for the investigation of the 77-acre former Army Engine Plant property for mixed-use redevelopment.
· Torrington was awarded $100,000 for investigation of a seven-acre site at 100 Franklin Drive for potential redevelopment in conjunction with the city’s riverfront redevelopment strategy.
“The cleanup and redevelopment of Brownfields continues to be one of the greatest challenges and greatest opportunities facing Connecticut’s cities and towns,” said Commissioner Rob Klee, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, in a statement. “These grants will provide funding to collect needed information about these Brownfield sites that will catalyze future Brownfield redevelopment.”