Funds help protect health and the environment; revitalize communities
Providence, RI— Governor Lincoln D. Chafee and the Director of Rhode Island's Department of Environmental Management (DEM), Janet Coit, today praised the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its award of more than $2.7 million in brownfield grants to Rhode Island nonprofits, municipalities and agencies.
"Rhode Island is grateful to the EPA for the agency's brownfield remediation grants, which are enabling the state to pave the way for reuse of abandoned and blighted sites," Governor Chafee said. "Throughout my political career, I have been a vocal and vital supporter of brownfield remediation, which has key economic, environmental and health benefits."
The grants are funded by EPA's Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup grant program. The EPA designed them to provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.
"It's great to see so many Rhode Island projects secure grant funding from a highly competitive national program," DEM Director Coit said. "Rhode Island has been a leader in cleaning up and redeveloping former industrial sites and continues to be a winner in this area. Governor Chafee was the sponsor of the legislation that created this federal program, and now he has proposed a state-grant program through his clean water, open space and healthy communities bond."
In Rhode Island, the following brownfields grants are being awarded this year:
• $700,000 community-wide Revolving Loan Fund grant, Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency and Central Falls.
• $411,685 cleanup grant for Paragon Mills Complex, Olneyville Housing Corp.
• $400,000 cleanup grant for 30 and 41 Branch St., Pawtucket Citizens Development Corp.
• $400,000 cleanup grant for American Tourister, Providence Redevelopment Agency.
• $200,000 cleanup grant for Imperial Knife facility, 60 King Street, Inc., Providence.
• $200,000 assessment grant for I-95 Redevelopment District, I-195 Redevelopment District Commission.
• $200,000 community-wide assessment grant, Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management.
• $200,000 community-wide assessment grant, Town of Westerly.
Throughout the six New England states, the EPA is awarding 48 separate grants to 46 different recipient organizations. The funding is part of $67 million in EPA Brownfields investments awarded throughout the country.