Residents of New England's former mill towns often feel left behind after manufacturers leave town. But in Lawrence, Mass., locals have refused to let abandoned buildings and polluted landscapes define their future.

By Story Hinckley, Christian Science Monitor

When Lesly Melendez recalls her walk to school as a child in Lawrence, Mass., she remembers the six-foot-tall fence cloaked in black cloth and decorated with caution tape. “Keep Out” signs warned passersby away from the so-called Dresden of Lawrence, the burned bones of the former Russell Paper Mill. 

“As a kid growing up and walking by things like that...,” Ms. Melendez trails off and sighs.

But her childhood neighborhood looks more appealing today. After years of stop-and-start cleanup, the Russell Mill site is now Oxford Site Park, a green welcome mat for the city. It’s an open space with a bike path. Long grasses bend in the wind, free from any fence. 

And this park may have helped the city grow opportunity as well as greenery. Lawrence, long one of New England’s poorest and most polluted communities, has become a center for public and nonprofit job training programs. They are certifying locals to clean up brownfields, properties where redevelopment is stalled because of potential pollution.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2019/0111/Lawrence-reborn-A-polluted-mill-town-reclaims-its-future

Dunkirk Observer (NY)

Construction of the new cold storage warehouse for Fieldbrook Foods has begun at 320 South Roberts Road, the former Edgewood Warehouse Brownfield Site in the city of Dunkirk with a target of being in operation this fall.

Mark Geise, deputy county executive for economic development and chief executive officer of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency noted this is a “big win for the city of Dunkirk” and the county. “After years of blight, this project will result in the cleanup and repurposing of a large brownfield site, resulting in a beautiful, modern new facility that addresses our long-standing shortage of available local cold storage space.”

The revitalization project includes acquisition, remediation, new construction and equipping of a new 80,000 square foot freezer warehouse. After decades as a contaminated eyesore in the City of Dunkirk, the dilapidated 167,400 square foot Edgewood warehouse on Roberts Road has now been demolished to make way for a brand new cold storage facility to serve Fieldbrook Foods, also located in Dunkirk. Property remediation and abatement is being performed as part of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Brownfield Cleanup Program. Site preparation is complete and concrete foundations are underway. The new facility will provide off-site storage for Fieldbrook Foods’ finished frozen dessert products.

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For the entire article, see

http://www.observertoday.com/news/page-one/2019/01/construction-begins-on-freezer-facility-in-city/

By Brian Gioiele, Connecticut Post

The focus of the city’s continued revitalization of Canal Street has now turned to the historic Star Pin Co. building, which was built in 1875 and has sat vacant for some 15 years.

The state Department of Economic & Community Development, on Dec. 19, announced it has approved a $750,000 grant for the remediation of hazardous building materials from the building at 267 Canal Street, which the city foreclosed on months ago for back taxes.

“This happens a lot in Connecticut,” said Mayor Mark Lauretti about the foreclosure, adding that the city foreclosed on the property because of about $600,000 owed in back taxes. “But you have to finally recognize that we’re never going to recover that, it’s abandoned. The best thing to do is cut your losses and get the property back on the tax rolls. We, as a city, have been pretty successful at doing that with several properties in downtown.”

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For the entire article, see

https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Old-Star-Pin-factory-in-Shelton-to-get-cleanup-13503932.php

By Emma Wright, WFMZ TV-69 News (Allentown, PA)

A dilapidated eyesore on Easton's Bushkill Drive may once again become an inspiration for art.

Famed raw metal sculptor Karl Stirner used to visit the old Easton Iron and Metal Co. for material and now his namesake trail has plans to buy the property and once again turn trash into treasure.

"For the last two years, we've been looking for one, a strategy to expand the trail and two, where would it be logical for it to make it work," said Dick McAteer.

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For the entire story, see

http://www.wfmz.com/news/lehigh-valley/easton-junkyard-could-contribute-to-growing-arts-scene/952348824

New Haven Register (CT)

The Science Park Development Corp. has been awarded a $200,000 state grant for the environmental assessment of the fomer Winchester Repeating Arms Co.

David Silverstone, the chairman of the board of the corporation, said the plan is to bring in a developer to finish the rest of the proposed housing at the former arms manufacturer in Newhallville.

Winchester Lofts, which was finished in 2015, is a $60 million conversion to 158 apartments that preserved much of the historic architecture for a large portion of the factory. The corporation had signed a deal with Forest City for the plan in 2008, just before the Great Recession delayed it for years.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/State-grant-may-equal-more-housing-in-Newhallville-13481345.php

Greenwich Time (CT)

The city has been awarded a $100,000 brownfield grant for cleanup of the former Hendey Machine Co./Stone Container Corp. property, the governor’s office said in a release.

The property is located between 200 Litchfield St., 105 Summer St. and Turner Avenue, near the Torrington Commons Shopping Center, and the plan is to turn part of the site into a regional transit facility.

In addition to the $100,000 state grant, the city was awarded $200,000 assessment grant to prepare for future revitalization. The money is to be used for a hazardous building material investigation and environmental assessment of the same property, officials said in the release.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Torrington-gets-100-000-abatement-grant-for-13480898.php

By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich, New Haven Register (CT)

Who knew a few years ago that a 109-year old former factory could be transformed into the thriving brewery and tap room that has since become the Valley’s Bad Sons Beer Co.

The Connecticut Economic Resource Center certainly knows that the work to turn the contaminated Brownfield site at 251 Roosevelt Drive into the popular brewery was no small feat. And for that, CERC recently presented Bad Sons with a “Celebrate CT!” award for its success in repurposing a former industrial property.

Bad Sons co-owner John Walsh recently accepted the award during CERC’s annual “Celebrate CT!” ceremony at Infinity Hall in Hartford. CERC President/CEO Robert Santy presented Walsh with the award. The ceremony, annually held since 2010, honors economic development successes throughout the state. Santy was not available for comment Wednesday.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.nhregister.com/valley/article/Derby-Bbrewery-honored-for-turning-something-old-13478775.php

Editorial, The Day (CT)

There’s no doubt Stonington’s plan to transform a Mystic River brownfield into a public park and boathouse site is challenging and complex. While the town has secured public funds for parts of the plan, it must pass muster with a variety of state officials. Those working to make the park a reality must also satisfy a set of local regulations and public preferences about boathouse design, parking and public access.

That means many interests, some which don’t easily mesh, have and will continue to weigh in on this project. Stonington officials say they understood these complexities before seeking residents’ approval in 2016 for $2.2 million in bonding to create the park. And because of those complexities the park may be developed in phases and progress might be slower than the public had expected.

Those officials recognize they must be flexible in working out details. The master plan may change a little or, perhaps, a lot depending on future decisions by state and local agencies and commissions.

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For the entire editorial, see

https://www.theday.com/editorials/20181214/confronting-challenges-for-mystic-boathouse-park

by Meg Dalton, Energy News Network

A new state incentive offers money to developers that build solar projects on polluted properties instead of forests or farmland.

A Rhode Island program promoting solar development on polluted properties could help relieve tensions between the state’s fast-growing solar industry and conservationists concerned with preserving green space.

Solar has surged in Rhode Island in recent years on the heels of ambitious new renewable energy goals and state incentives for developers. Gov. Gina Raimondo announced a goal last year to reach 1,000 MW of clean energy and 20,000 clean energy jobs by 2020. 

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For the entire article, see

https://energynews.us/2018/12/10/northeast/rhode-island-looks-to-spare-green-space-with-brownfield-solar-projects/

Editorial, Burlington County Times

There is a valuable plot of land on Route 73 in Palmyra where the difference between what is and what could be is as vast as the long and confusing history attached to it. 

What it could be is a modern commercial and residential complex that greets out-of-state travelers to New Jersey and the tiny borough of Palmyra at the foot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge.

What it could be is a worthy extension of the adjacent Palmyra Cove Nature Park, an easy-to-miss, bucolic park with a network of nature trails ideal for hiking, birding and admiring flora and fauna.

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For the entire article, see

http://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/opinion/20181212/editorial-palmyra-seeing-red-over-brownfield