For Immediate Release: 11/16/2022
Contact Person: Ligia Madeira, 508-821-1000
O’CONNELL ANNOUNCES GRANT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP
Taunton, MA…Today Mayor Shaunna O’Connell announced the City of Taunton received a $200,000 grant from the MassDevelopment Brownfields Redevelopment Fund for the environmental cleanup of a site on Nickerson Avenue. On November 14, 2022, Mayor O’Connell welcomed Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, Undersecretary of Community Development Ashley Stolba and MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera to Taunton to announce the Brownfields grant awards. Taunton is one of thirteen municipalities awarded a grant in this round of funding.
"It is always an honor to host the awards ceremonies in our City. We gladly welcome Lt. Governor Polito and her Administration and applaud their commitment and support of our local communities,” said Mayor O’Connell. “As we work to advance our agenda of revitalizing Taunton, I am grateful for the assistance of the state in helping us to clean up these contaminated sites which promotes economic development and ensures a safer environment for our children."
MassDevelopment, the state’s development finance agency, oversees the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which provides funding to transform vacant, abandoned, or underused properties by financing the environmental assessment and cleanup of Brownfield sites throughout the state. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a Brownfield as “a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” According to the EPA, there are more than 450,000 Brownfield sites across the US.
The Taunton property located at 5-7 Nickerson Avenue, of which the City took possession in 2013 for tax delinquency, is a documented Brownfield site due to a petroleum release. The site is located in a primarily residential neighborhood and has excellent potential for residential development.
The remediation required to make a site like this reusable is often cost-prohibitive to developers without financial incentives. This grant will fund the site cleanup, thereby making the site more attractive to a potential purchaser. Due to its location and zoning, it is anticipated that the site’s end use would be residential.###