Mayor Richard Kos, City Treasurer Marie Laflamme, and Director of Planning Lee Pouliot are pleased to announce that Brownfields cleanup will begin today at the former Racing Oil site. The cleanup is part of continuing planning efforts for the West End redevelopment and is a result of multiple U.S. EPA Brownfields Cleanup grants.
The former Racing Oil Service Station site consists of a former gasoline fueling station located on approximately 0.28 acres at 181 Center Street which the City of Chicopee acquired through tax foreclosure in 2009. A 2011 pilot EPA Area-Wide Brownfields Planning Grant was used to identify and evaluate the site as one of fifteen Brownfields in the West End. The site has remained undeveloped since December 2004 when the removal of an on-site kiosk, pump islands and three underground storage tanks was completed. Currently, the site is covered with pavement and remnants of a concrete pad where the gasoline pumps were located. A 2012 U.S. EPA Targeted Brownfields Assessment determined that the site was contaminated by gasoline and oil releases and identified an additional underground storage tank.
Following the Targeted Brownfields Assessment, the City applied for and was granted a $200,000 Brownfields Cleanup Grant from the U.S. EPA along with a $40,000 CDGB cost share. The City has contracted the Licensed Site Professional services of Tighe & Bond while Western Mass Environmental will conduct the cleanup work. The cleanup project entails the removal of the additional underground storage tank, excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil, injection of treatment reagents, and backfilling the area with clean soil. Once the work is completed, the site will be reseeded instead of paved. Tighe & Bond will follow-up with groundwater testing to make sure that the contamination dissipates.
“Excited to see another property cleaned and made available for reuse,” said Mayor Kos. “I congratulate Lee Pouliot and our Planning Department on receiving this grant.”
“The cleanup and subsequent redevelopment of the Racing Oil property is a crucial endeavor to diminishing environmental hazard and promoting economic development in the West End,” stated City Planner Lee Pouliot, who has championed the cleanup of the Racing Oil property and pursued cleanup grants from the EPA for the project. “The proper reuse of this site is a linchpin in the continued efforts to improve quality of life for all residents, businesses and stakeholders in the neighborhood.”
Following cleanup and close out of the project, the City will release an RFP for development proposals of the property consistent with West End Area-Wide plan. For more information regarding the West End Area-Wide plan, please visit http://chicopeema.gov/191/West-End-Area-Wide-Plan or contact the City of Chicopee Planning Department at (413) 594-1515.
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