FOR IMMEDIATE RELESE

Thursday, December 21, 2023

SEN. OSTEN WELCOMES STATE FUNDING FOR BROWNFIELD STUDIES IN LISBON AND SPRAGUE

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today welcomed a third of a million dollars in state grants to conduct assessments at two brownfield sites in the 19th State Senate District that will eventually help get the properties developed and creating local jobs.

“Eastern Connecticut has a very strong and proud manufacturing history. But as technology changes, we need to change with it. These brownfield assessment grants will allow Lisbon and Sprague to do the groundwork necessary to create a remediation plan and determine what industries best suit these sites and the region. The result will be more jobs and economic development for a region with a lot of very skilled and hardworking people,” Sen. Osten said.

The two local brownfield assessment grants include:

• Lisbon: A $120,000 grant to conduct assessments of the former Lisbon Textile Prints company site located at 99 River Road. This assessment will allow Lisbon to rezone the property and enable future mixed-use and commercial uses. Funds will also be used to develop a remedial action plan at the site.

• Sprague: A $200,000 grant to conduct additional site investigations at a former paper manufacturing site located at 130 Inland Road in Baltic. The assessments will determine the extent of subsurface contaminants on the site to allow for future remediation and current waste treatment expansion and other potential uses.

Governor Ned Lamont said a total of $7.2 million in state grants are being released to support the remediation and assessment of blighted properties in nine municipalities across Connecticut, consisting of 713 acres of land.

The grants, which are being released through the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program, will leverage $229 million in private investment and are expected to create about 850 jobs.

“Nobody wants to live in a community that has old, polluted, blighted properties that sit vacant for decades when this land could be used for productive purposes, such as business growth and new housing,” Gov. Lamont said. “By partnering with municipalities and developers, we can clean up these lifeless properties and bring them back from the dead.”

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