The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded two grants to the city of Shelton totaling $700,000 that will finance the cleaning of contaminated properties under the agency’s brownfields program.
The city received a $200,000 assessment grant to conduct environmental site assessments, develop cleanup plan, and support reuse planning and community outreach activities along a one-mile stretch of Canal Street from the Route 8 Commodore Hull Bridge to the Housatonic Canal Locks.
The priority sites within this corridor that will receive attention include the former Wilkinson Brothers paper mill and the 1-acre Better Packages site consisting of demolished brick, steel and concrete buildings.
Shelton is also receiving a $500,000 cleanup grant to be used at the defunct Star Pin Manufacturing facility at 267 Canal St., which is contaminated with heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds. The grant funds will also be used to conduct community involvement activities.
“The city of Shelton is thankful to receive an assessment grant and cleanup grant for brownfields located in the downtown area of Shelton,” said Mayor Mark Lauretti, who added the funds will revitalize a long-dormant section of the city and “allow economic development to proceed.”
