Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) on Tuesday joined Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator David Cash, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder, and Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Melanie Loyzim in Portland to celebrate a historic $13.8 million Infrastructure Law investment to assess and clean up Brownfields sites in communities throughout Maine’s First District. 

“Hazardous sites not only pose a health danger to Mainers—especially as extreme weather becomes more common—but they also limit important economic activity in our communities,” said Congresswoman Pingree. “As Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees funding for the EPA, I’m thrilled to see nearly $14 million coming back to Maine’s First District to help towns and underserved areas mitigate pollution by cleaning up and repurposing contaminated sites to create valued community spaces. Thanks to President Biden, this money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will make generational investments in each of these towns, creating hundreds of jobs and securing more space for Mainers to create and expand their businesses.”

"EPA's Brownfields program has a long track record of making critical investments that are a catalyst to revitalize communities in Maine and across New England," said EPA Regional Administrator Cash. "Thanks to funding from Congress and the Biden Administration in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is making a historic investment to help communities in Maine perform Brownfields assessments and cleanups. These projects will jump start economic redevelopment and job creation, and will do so in many neighborhoods that have been underserved and are ready to turn environmental risks into economic assets."

"Maine continues to be a leader in leveraging brownfields funding to support local redevelopment plans and return blighted properties to productive economic uses,” said Maine DEP Commissioner Loyzim.

"The EPA's Brownfields investment in Maine has meant a great deal to the city of Portland. With the most recent round of funds we received through the revolving loan fund, we were able to provide support to 10 different sites in Portland," said Portland Mayor Snyder. "This led to the creation of hundreds of permanent jobs and leveraged nearly $500 million from private developers and investors, regional planning commissions, and state and federal grants. We are thankful to once again be awarded these funds and look forward to further investing in our community with the $3 million that was awarded to us. We'd like to thank the Biden Administration and our Congressional delegation for their work in making these funds available." 

From left: Maine DEP Commissioner Melanie Loyzim, Portland Mayor Kate Snyder, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, and EPA Regional Administrator David Cash.

Community Wide Brownfields Assessment Grants include:

• City of Bath: $500,000 community wide assessment grant to address sites within the city’s downtown and waterfront areas, including the former Texas Steamship Shipyard and properties in the South End. 
• City of Gardiner: $500,000 community wide assessment grant to assess the impact of paper mills and other brownfields within the city, including the Cobbossee stream corridor and the downtown Water Street area.
• City of South Portland: $500,000 community wide assessment grant to address the impacts of sites related to industrial and ship building activities, including the Fore River Waterfront and the Main Street Corridor.
• City of Waterville: A first time grant winner, the City of Waterville will be using their $500,000 community wide assessment grant to assess former mills and other sites in the city, including those in the Downtown and College Avenue areas.
• Town of Gray: $500,000 community wide assessment grant to address sites throughout the town, with a focus on the Gray Village Center intersection and the Route 100/Portland Road corridors. This is the town’s first grant from the EPA to address brownfields.
• City of Rockland: $500,000 cleanup grant to remediate the former Shafter’s Junkyard. 

Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Supplemental funding to recapitalize ongoing and successful Brownfields RLF programs:

• Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments: $1,000,000 to help fund Brownfields cleanups at important sites throughout the Androscoggin Valley, including the Auburn, Lewiston, Rumford and Lewis communities. 
• Greater Portland Council of Governments: $3,900,000 to assist in the continuation and initiation of Brownfields cleanup projects throughout the Greater Portland area.
• Kennebec Valley Council of Governments: $1,000,000 to provide funding for cleanups in their member communities.
• Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission: $3,900,000 to fund Brownfields cleanups at mills and other important sites in their member communities.

Other grants include:

• City of Portland: $3,000,000 RLF supplemental grant to provide funds for businesses and non-profits to clean up contaminated properties within the city. 
• Maine Department of Economic & Community Development: $3,900,000 RLF supplemental grant to provide state grant and loan assistance to a wide array of site cleanup and redevelopment projects throughout the state. 

Background:

A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Assessment and clean-up of contaminated sediments through the program makes safe redevelopment possible including everything from grocery stores and affordable housing to health centers, museums, greenways, and solar farms.

Announced in May, the EPA’s record investment in Maine was made possible through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to revitalize communities across the country by cleaning up contaminated and blighted sites and redeveloping them for productive uses.

The funds will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities around the state in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industrial and commercial properties and are part of a historic national EPA investment in Brownfields remediation. The funding awards are among 227 communities nationwide to receive grant awards totaling $147.5 million in EPA Brownfields funding through its Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Programs.

Pingree is the Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and the Environment, which oversees funding for the EPA. 

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