BOSTON – City Pier in Fall River is one of five sites selected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for assistance by its new Brownfields Support Team, Gov. Deval L. Patrick said yesterday.
The multi-agency initiative, unveiled in May, will help cities and towns to clean up industrial contamination and prepare the sites for redevelopment. It will build upon the commonwealth’s existing brownfields program, which has helped clean up more than 713 sites in 203 communities since its inception in 1998.
The Brownfields Support Team will bring together staff from the Mass. Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP), the Mass. Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) and MassDevelopment. Depending on the needs of a given project, it also might involve any or all of the Mass. Office of the Attorney General, the Mass. Department of Revenue, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the governor’s office said.
“The coordination and cooperation of these agencies in moving the Brownfields initiative forward will make this unique type of redevelopment beneficial not just to local communities but to the state as a whole,” said Greg Bialecki, state undersecretary for housing and economic development.
Selected as Support Team pilot projects, along with City Pier, were the former Chapman Valve and Crane Co. properties in Springfield; the South Worcester Industrial Park; the fire-damaged Fisherville Mill in Grafton; and the Ted’s for Tires in downtown Haverhill, where an intermodal transit station is planned. (The sites were selected based on their location within “gateway” communities and regions where MassDEP is providing technical assistance; in Growth Districts or 43D fast-track permitting zones identified by EOHED; and areas already defined as priorities by MassDevelopment, the administration said.)
“By focusing the attention and coordinated expertise of multiple state agencies on these five key sites, 108 acres of contaminated land will be cleaned up and restored to productive use,” Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Murray said, “and we will learn valuable lessons that can be applied to other projects in the future.”
The City of Fall River has targeted the City Pier property for a mixed-use redevelopment that might include a hotel, restaurant, marina and office space. The four-acre parcel along the Taunton River adjoins a proposed commuter-rail station that would offer tenants easy access to Boston. But the project has been hindered by the presence of PCBs in soil and sediments.
“Redeveloping these sites will boost local economies; restore historic waterfronts; offer manufacturers easy access to major highways and railways; provide housing, shopping and recreational opportunities; and spur further development in downtown areas,” Patrick said.
“For more than 20 years, Massachusetts has witnessed how brownfields can provide a solid return on investment by transforming formerly contaminated, dormant and abandoned sites into redevelopment success stories,” added MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Bert. “This initiative goes one step further in shepherding certain challenging projects back to productive use.”
News and information from the Mass. Governor’s Office is available at www.mass.gov.
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