More than $7 million in grants has been made available by the Department of Economic and Community Development to help clean up former industrial sites in communities throughout the state.
“Redevelopment of brownfields is a win for our economy and for the environment,” Robert Klee, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection commissioner, said. “Cleaning up and redeveloping contaminated properties protects human health and the environment and helps our economy to grow by transforming vacant or underutilized sites into community assets.”
The funds have been made available through the state Brownfield Remediation Program, which seeks to rehabilitate abandoned, blighted and vacant properties to drive new investment, development and economic growth in communities with brownfield properties.
The available $7.5 million in funds will be broken down to a $6.5 million portion for remediation purposes and an additional $1 million for assessment projects.
“Remediated brownfields sites have helped transform communities, adding housing, retail, entertainment and business centers,” Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said. “Cleaning up these properties creates additional tax revenue for cities and towns, but even more significantly, it puts land back to work for residents.”
Eligible applicants for grant funding include municipalities and economic development agencies. Grant applicants can request funding of up to $2 million for remediation projects and up to $200,000 for assessment projects.
Applications must be submitted to DECD electronically to brownfields@ct.gov no later than 4 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2015.
For information about the application process or other brownfield redevelopment programs, visit www.ctbrownfields.gov.
