Redevelopment brings new manufacturing to Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development today announced that KAD Properties LLC has been approved for $51,718 in funding from the State’s Brownfield Initiative to remediate the former LW Greenwood property in East Randolph. KAD Models and Prototypes, Inc is a growing prototype manufacturing shop located in the San Francisco Bay Area, and more recently East Randolph.

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Posted October 13, 2020

Small scale redevelopment project in Vermont with state funding suppport benefits local community.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) today announced that Twin Pines Housing has received $65,000 in grant funding from the State’s Brownfield Initiative to work with Evernorth (formerly Housing Vermont) to remediate the former Tip Top Tire site in Wilder and construct four units of affordable housing.

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Posted October 13, 2020

Vermont Brownfield funding supports small town economics and creates community space.

Albany Community Trust, Inc. has received $17,850 in grant funding from the State of Vermont’s Brownfield Initiative to remediate the former Albany General Store property.

The presently shuttered building has a 100 plus year history of operating as a general store.  The closure was necessitated by an electrical fire in 2013.  Lamoille County Planning Commission contributed to the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment and initial environmental investigation, including the removal of underground fuel storage tanks. Northeastern Vermont Development Association, and Department of Environmental Conservation – Petroleum Clean-Up Fund (PCF) contributed to site characterization, and the PCF will be used to clean up contamination from the former fueling station.

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Posted October 6, 2020

Current project in Pennsylvania with an industrial end use.

CANPACK Group, a coalition of packaging companies, plans to redevelop a former brownfield site in Lackawanna County for a North American Center of Excellence and an aluminum-can manufacturing facility.

CANPACK Group is a subsidiary of Pennsylvania-based Giorgi Global Holdings and manufactures aluminum and steel cans and glass bottles for the food and beverage sector.

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Posted October 6, 2020

New Ohio law provides long term liability protection for developers when re-openers arise. 

Effective September 15, 2020, Ohio will join the list of states that have incorporated the federal “Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser” (“BFPP”) defense to hazardous substance liability into state law, through the enactment of House Bill 168.[1] Although Ohio has previously offered a shield to state-level liability through its Voluntary Action Program, that mechanism requires issuance of a covenant not to sue by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.[2] The new statutory BFPP defense will offer property purchasers the advantage of being “self-implementing,” requiring no affirmative government approval to take effect.

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Posted September 21, 2020

Private equity firms see opportunity in Brownfield services as exemplified by this investment in Hull Associates by RCT Partners.

Hull & Associates and Round Table Capital Partners (RTC), a New York based private equity firm, announced today that RTC has completed an investment in Hull & Associates, a premier environmental and engineering consulting firm specializing in the Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure markets in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

Founded in 1980, Hull is a diversified engineering consulting firm with deep sector expertise in site assessment & remediation, brownfield redevelopment, waste management & beneficial use, water / wastewater, renewable energy, infrastructure design, and other services for commercial and industrial clients, oil & gas companies, public utilities, municipal and government agencies. The Company serves over 500 active clients across eight offices in the United States. “RTC’s partnership with Hull will allow great growth opportunities for our employees,” said Craig Kasper, CEO of Hull who will take on the role of Executive Vice President. “The investment in Hull as a platform will allow inorganic and organic growth to serve our clients on a national stage,” Kasper added.

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Posted September 21, 2020

Brownfields opportunities are international, as this story from England reminds us.  As described in this article, very high housing demand is driving the redevelopment of Brownfield properties and the number of sites vary significantly by town.

By Andrew Nowell

The borough has just 26 brownfield locations able to accommodate 1,468 houses, according to the engineering, design and project management consultancy firm which looked into the subject.

However, the sites in Wigan which could be turned into housing are, on the whole, reasonably large, as the borough has 113 hectares which could be put to use. This is the fifth-largest amount of land available to GM town halls.

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Posted September 14, 2020

New Ohio law provides long term liability protection for developers when re-openers arise. 

by Kim Palmer

A popular state bill that gives prospective buyers of contaminated property legal immunity in hopes of spurring redevelopment around the state was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine late Tuesday, June 16.

Ohio House Bill 168 establishes immunity for costs associated with cleanup, in cases where any original contaminations resurface from an environmentally blighted property after federally approved remediation efforts were undertaken by the new owner.

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Posted September 14, 2020

By Bob Clark, Olean Times Herald (NY)

Another brownfield cleanup in North Olean is being planned, the state Department of Environmental Conservation reported.

DEC officials said they will be accepting public comment for 30 days on a Brownfield Cleanup Program application for 351 Franklin St., a 6.26-acre site previously used for oil refineries.

The property is owned by 351 Franklin St., LLC., a corporation founded by R. Donald Benson, who has led several brownfield remediations in the area. Two commercial structures sit on the site. One is used by First Transit, Inc., for several local bus operations including the Olean Area Transit System, while the other structure is vacant.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/new-brownfield-cleanup-proposed-on-franklin-street/article_05728d7a-1e7c-56df-ac61-c785945068dd.html

Posted September 8, 2020

By John Voket, Newtown Bee (CT)

Poking around the brownfield clean-up site a stone’s throw from Sandy Hook Village Center and the banks of the Pootatuck reveals a deteriorating complex of buildings that once contributed to Newtown’s manufacturing heritage.

Economic and Community Development Deputy Director Christal Preszler and colleague Christine O’Neil unlocked the heavy gate to the grounds of 28A Glen Road for a brief tour with The Newtown Bee, August 30, as the town announced a new grant being applied to tackle the containment and remediation of some of the most imminently hazardous materials that had been abandoned on the site for decades.

With a little imagination, it is easy to envision the cluster of buildings, once the site of R.S. Watkins & Sons, as a thriving beehive of activity that employed hundreds of local residents over the years, including a young William Halstead, who went on to serve as a long-time fire marshal and still serves as Chief of Sandy Hook Fire & Rescue.

...

When it was fully utilized, the property included one private residence, three industrial buildings, and two storage sheds. The residential structure dates from 1847, while the other buildings sprang up between 1943 and 1947.

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For the entire article, see

https://www.newtownbee.com/09042020/glen-road-brownfield-cleanup-targeting-hazmat-materials/

Posted September 8, 2020