EPA gives J&L brownfields cleanup a boost and a check

The environmental cleanup of one of the state’s “most complicated” and heavily polluted former industrial sites got a financial boost Thursday from the Environmental Protection Agency.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20120914/NEWS02/709149901

Published September 14, 2012 in the Rutland Herald EPA gives J&L brownfields cleanup a boost and a check By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The environmental cleanup of one of the state’s “most complicated” and heavily polluted former industrial sites got a financial boost Thursday from the Environmental Protection Agency. Grants to both the Springfield Regional Development Corp. and the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission — totaling $600,000 — will be used to start cleanup of up the old Jones & Lamson Machine Tool Co. next spring. Bob Flint, executive director of the Springfield development group, which owns the old machine tool factory, said cleaning the 12-acre site would cost between $2 million and $2.5 million, depending on several factors. To date, the J&L evaluation and cleanup effort has cost more than $775,000. Officials did not know where the money to complete the cleanup of the J&L site would come from. The EPA handed out close to $1.5 million in grants to the state and several organizations for brownfields cleanup projects or loan funds Thursday. EPA Regional Administrator Curt Spalding said the New England EPA office received a total of $17 million in brownfields funding, one quarter of all such funding nationwide. Spalding said New England states and their communities know how to work together to solve problems and persevere. Grant recipients within the state included Rutland Regional Planning Commission, receiving a $200,000 assessment grant that will help towns in southwestern Vermont evaluate polluted properties. Also, the Bellows Falls Historical Society received $200,000 toward cleaning up a former paper mill site along the Connecticut River for a proposed riverfront park and trail system. The state Agency of Commerce and Community Development received $450,000 for its brownfields revolving loan fund. During an afternoon press conference in front of the main entrance to J&L, which has been closed for about 20 years, Gov. Peter Shumlin said redeveloping J&L and the other 150 brownfield sites in Vermont was a state priority. Shumlin said he had appointed a new task force, co-chaired by Deb Markowitz, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, and Lawrence Miller, secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Shumlin said the process of redeveloping the brownfield sites, often on key pieces of commercial riverfront property, made sense economically as well as environmentally. Shumlin said the task force would prioritize the 150 brownfield sites, and also help streamline the process of applying for state and federal funds to help in the cleanup and redevelopment. The governor pointed to a big success story less than a mile away — the redevelopment of the old Fellows Gear Shaper complex — another one of Springfield’s large machine tool plants no longer in active use. The old Gear Shaper plant will house a new federally-funded health clinic, as well as doctors’ offices associated with Springfield Hospital. The plant, which is also on the banks of the Black River, has lots of other available space for development, Shumlin said. Flint, who is heavily involved in the redevelopment of several brownfield sites, said the J&L site was much more complicated than the Fellows to clean up. He said much of the industrial pollution is in the so-called chip shed, where metal chips, often laden with industrial oils and cutting agents, were stored. The pollution has gotten into the ground and asbestos cleanup is another problem, he said. The election-year press conference featured representatives from Vermont’s congressional delegation including, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernard Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch, who have been instrumental in securing the brownfield sites cleanup funding. Ted Brady, a staffer for Leahy, kidded Flint for his proclivity for “collecting stray cats.” Except, the stray cats in these cases are big old industrial plants needing remediation and redevelopment, he said. “I prefer the term ‘fixer-upper,’” Flint said. Flint said that once the cleanup of J&L is completed, the redevelopment of the project with the goal of creating more jobs for job-needy Springfield will be much easier. Flint is also heading up the cleanup of the old Bryant Grinder factory. He said the J&L site — on a four-lane highway, just off Interstate 91, was prime location for redevelopment. He said his group was in talks with the State Division for Historic Preservation to revisit the agreement about what of the historic old factory needed to be saved and what could be torn down. The original agreement called for the iconic red-brick factory facade along Clinton Street to be saved, but little else.