Pioneer Valley
Planning Commission
Press Release
CONTACT:Anne Capra, PVPC Senior Planner, Phone: 1 (413) 781-6045
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 31, 2007
Assistance Available for Brownfield Sites with Petroleum-Based Contamination
Funding is now available through a $200,000 Brownfield Assessment Grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for environmental site assessments on properties in the Hilltown region with known or perceived petroleum-based contamination. The Hilltown region includes the towns of Blandford, Chester, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Huntington, Middlefield, Montgomery, Plainfield, Russell, Westhampton, Williamsburg and Worthington.
The program aims to assist in the redevelopment of sites for economic development, housing, and open space. Common examples of brownfields are abandoned gas stations and dry cleaners, railroad properties, factories, and closed military bases. Petroleum or petroleum by-products include, but are not limited to, fuel oil, gasoline, diesel, kerosene, aviation jet fuel, aviation gasoline, lubricating oils, oily sludge, oil refuse, oil mixed with other wastes, crude oils, and other liquid hydrocarbons regardless of specific gravity.
The Hilltown Community Development Center is working with PVPC to identify eligible properties and to contact landowners. PVPC has hired TRC Environmental Corporation of Lowell, Massachusetts as the licensed site professional for the program. TRC will perform environmental site assessments including research on past use of property, soil and ground water investigations, and remediation planning for detected contaminants.
A brownfield is a property whose expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Development interest in brownfield sites has been growing steadily since the early 1990s. Traditionally, environmental risk has been considered the major impediment to developing these sites, but programs at the state and federal levels have helped address these risks.
Property owners or prospective buyers of properties known or perceived to be contaminated are urged to contact PVPC Senior Planner Anne Capra at acapra@pvpc.org or (413) 781-6045 to learn more about this program and its eligibility requirements, and to receive an application.