Creating the Right Solutions Together
The
City of Claremont, NH has selected HRP Associates, Inc. as
their consultant for their EPA Brownfields Assessment Pilot project.
Claremont (population 13,151) borders the Connecticut River, a designated
American Heritage River, in "Precision Valley," an area known
for its past dominance in precision machine tool manufacturing.
The Pilot targets city-owned or controlled properties that supported a range of past industrial operations, and will identify and prioritize privately-owned Brownfields sites requiring environmental assessment.
Steady decline of Claremont’s machine tool industry, textile milling, and manufacturing operations over the past 60 years has led to the abandonment of many large industrial buildings or their conversion into subsidized housing. New commercial or industrial businesses have failed to take over these properties, in part due to the lack of site-specific information regarding potential environmental contamination.
EPA is funding:
- Assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years) to assess Brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;
- Job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years) to provide training for residents of communities affected by Brownfields to facilitate cleanup of Brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and
- Cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds to make loans for the environmental cleanup of Brownfields.
These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
The city’s objective is to return Brownfields sites in the downtown and mill districts to the city’s market and tax roles, while encouraging a mixed-use redevelopment of the reclaimed properties.
The Pilot plans to accomplish this objective by performing site assessments on priority sites and preparing cleanup and reuse plans for these sites. The Pilot will also fund community involvement activities. EPA’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely cleanup, and sustainably reuse Brownfields.
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
- Developing a Brownfields reuse project steering committee representing the city, residential neighborhoods adjacent to Brownfields sites, and partner organizations;
- Establishing site selection criteria reflecting information on historical use, vacancy rates, and public input;
- Performing Phase I environmental assessments at up to eight sites;
- Prioritizing sites that have the greatest redevelopment potential based on the extent of contamination and location;
- Conducting Phase II environmental assessments at a limited number of priority sites; and
- Conducting community outreach through individual contacts and televised public meetings.