Mayor Richard J. Kos announced that the City has been awarded a total of $600,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Fiscal Year 2016 Brownfields Cleanup Program. The City submitted three proposals to the U.S. EPA on December 14, 2015. The total grant award will fund three, $200,000 Brownfields cleanup projects in Chicopee Falls at the former Uniroyal property. Mayor Kos described the award, “as a significant investment in the Uniroyal property that accelerates efforts to prepare the site for redevelopment.”
Grant funds have been awarded for the following proposed cleanup projects:
- Uniroyal Building #28 North – The building encompasses approximately 240,000 square feet of vacant industrial space on five floors, not including the basement. The building’s footprint covers approximately 1.1 acres of property. Grant funds will be utilized to remove hazardous building materials including asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and others in preparation for the building’s demolition
- Uniroyal Building #28 North Extension – The building encompasses approximately 56,500 square feet of vacant industrial space on five floors, not including the basement. The building’s footprint covers approximately 0.79 acres of property. Grant funds will be utilized to remove hazardous building materials including asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and others in preparation for the building’s demolition.
- Uniroyal Building #28 South – The building encompasses approximately 270,000 square feet of vacant industrial space on five floors, not including the basement. The building’s footprint covers approximately 1.24 acres of property. Grant funds will be utilized to remove hazardous building materials including asbestos, lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and others in preparation for the building’s demolition.
Mayor Kos extended gratitude to the U.S. EPA for the Agency’s investment in and partnership with the City of Chicopee. Kos stated, “to date, the EPA has awarded over $2 million in Brownfields Assessment and Cleanup grant funds to the City of Chicopee. The continued partnership between the U.S. EPA and the City of Chicopee ensures the ability to address long term environmental challenges thereby removing a roadblock to successful redevelopment and reuse of these properties.” Previous Brownfields grants have funded hazardous building material abatement projects in former Uniroyal Buildings 7, 26, 33 and 43, the Baskin parcel and a former rail line. The City was also awarded assessment and cleanup grants to complete environmental assessments and cleanup of Brownfields located in the West End of downtown Chicopee.
Cleanup efforts for Uniroyal Buildings #28 North, #28 North Extension and #28 South will begin in fall 2016 following the anticipated release of funds in October.