Methuen gets $500K for pollution cleanup plans

By Monica Sager 

METHUEN — The city has been selected to receive $500,000 for a pollution assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop clean up plans throughout the community.

The EPA selected 14 communities in Massachusetts to receive grants that will total $8.74 million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding.

The funding comes from the multipurpose, assessment, revolving loan fund and cleanup (MARC) grant programs. This is the largest funding ever awarded in the EPA’s Brownfields MARC grant program history.

Brownfields are parts of land that have been abandoned or under-utilized due to pollution from industrial use. The EPA’s brownfields program started in 1995.

In Methuen, the grant will help assess polluted sites, develop cleanup plans and support outreach in the downtown and the Eastern Industrial Area.

Priority will be given to a former metal plating facility and a former construction and trucking company site, where illegal dumping of debris has been a problem

As these so-called brownfields are cleaned-up and redeveloped, communities are able to attract more jobs, promote economic revitalization and transform the sites into a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly place.

“This unprecedented level of federal brownfields funding will help our administration partner with local communities and regional planning agencies to clean up polluted and contaminated properties that are often in environmental justice communities,” Governor Maura Healey said in a press release.

The investments are part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The hope is to grow the economy from the bottom-up and middle-out, according to the EPA’s press release.

“This funding will revitalize communities across New England and jump start economic redevelopment and job creation in many of New England’s hardest hit and underserved communities,” said David Cash, EPA New England regional administrator.

According to the EPA, the government-funded cleanups will attract more than $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean-energy investments throughout the country. The investments are also meant to create more jobs that do not require a four-year degree as well as build an economy that will combat climate change by making communities more resilient to its effects.

Congresswoman Lori Trahan said she voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to expand the brownfields program and is glad to see the investments benefit her constituents.

“I’m glad to see Methuen and Westford are the next communities to benefit firsthand from this terrific program,” Trahan said. “With this federal funding, families in these communities and across the Third District will be safer and healthier for generations to come.”

The EPA also announced $5 million in supplemental funding to two existing brownfield programs to expedite work now underway and fund more cleanups.

“Thanks to the EPA, we are one step closer to protecting public health and cleaning up decades worth of pollution in Massachusetts,” Sen. Ed Markey said in a press release. “These major investments in our communities will not only spur economic growth but also create a brighter and more livable future for our Commonwealth.”

Methuen’s mayor and members of the Conservation Commission were unavailable for comment on the funding and how it might impact the community.

Follow Monica on Twitter at @MonicaSager3