New funds to advance cleanup at dozens of Vt. brownfield sites

Vermont is investing $25 million to clean up and spur redevelopment on some major contaminated sites, which have sat vacant for years due to the cost of environmental remediation.

About 70 eligible sites are on the list to receive funding through the Brownfield Reuse and Environmental Liability Limitation Act. The overall $25 million comes out of a $210 million state budget surplus and was approved by the Legislature. It marks the first time state dollars have been used toward these brownfield projects, officials said in their Thursday announcement. Historically, this work has been funded exclusively by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

One of the projects benefiting from this influx of money is the 270,000-square-foot former Jones & Lamson Machine Co. building in Springfield, a huge driver of the manufacturing powerhouse this town was decades ago. The effort to demolish and remediate this 14-acre site will now receive $3.7 million from Vermont’s Brownfield Economic Revitalization Alliance program, the Valley News reported Friday. From that same program, new funding is also going to clean up a brownfield site in St. Albans and two in Burlington. 

The full amount of $25 million will be administered in parts by the state Agency of Natural Resources and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD). 

This week, officials touted the significant environmental and economic impacts of this money.

“The level of funding will speed up a process which will no doubt result in business retention and expansion, job creation, and housing development, like we’ve never seen in Vermont,” said ACCD Secretary Lindsay Kurrle in a statement.

Also in Thursday’s announcement, Peter Walke, the state’s commissioner of environmental conservation, noted the multiple ways the funding makes a difference.

“This historic state funding for brownfields will help us address longstanding environmental issues and better protect public health,” Walke said. “The benefits include everything from reducing sprawl by encouraging the use of existing infrastructure to encouraging renewable energy on brownfields.”

To help reach these goals, he also noted the importance of partnerships across state agencies, with the EPA and regional planning commissions, and many other groups and organizations. 

In Thursday’s statement, Gov. Phil Scott said this type of funding represents “exactly the kind of lasting impact” Vermont needs. 

“I hope this new level of state funding shows communities across Vermont that we are committed to helping all corners of the state recover and rebuild stronger than ever before,” Scott said.

— Gareth Henderson