NL to receive $1M to clean up abandoned sites

— The city is to receive $1 million from a federal grant to clean up abandoned commercial sites for development.

The Revolving Loan Fund Grant, awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will allow the city to provide five loans and up to 12 sub-grants to local organizations or entities to lead cleanup efforts.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd, was here Friday to announce the funding at The Beam, the newly constructed apartments at 221 Howard St., according to a news release. The site was formerly blighted and contaminated until 2014 when the city received $400,000 from EPA to clean up the site.

Courtney in the release said economic growth in many communities across eastern Connecticut is stymied by abandoned properties contaminated from prior use. The federal grant is made possible by a federal infrastructure law he supported in November.

He said the grant funding will provide the city “a fighting chance to transform abandoned property into residential and business opportunities” just like it did with The Beam.

The funding for the grant is part of a larger Biden-Harris administration effort that is delivering $315 million across the nation for cleanup efforts and technical assistance at polluted brownfield sites.

New London Mayor Michael Passero in the release said reforming brownfield sites is particularly important to attract the talent necessary to support the city’s burgeoning defense, offshore wind, and health care industries.

“I am grateful for Congressman Courtney’s work to secure this funding and am confident that the partnership between the city and our federal partners will have far-reaching benefits for decades to come,” Passero said.

Felix Reyes, the city’s director of development and planning, said it will be a competitive grant and loan program for projects looking to remediate blighted commercial buildings downtown.

Reyes said the city will be looking for developers that truly need to utilize brownfield dollars to complete a site. He said his office will start to put together an application process in the next month.