Mayor Mark A. Lauretti of the City of Shelton has announced that on Wednesday, August 23, 2017, the US EPA will present to the City a grant award of $200,000 for the purpose of continuing the redevelopment efforts along Canal Street in the City’s downtown.
Mayor Mark A. Lauretti said, “The City of Shelton has been actively engaged in Brownfields Remediation since the early 1990s before the term “brownfields” became popular.”
Over these past two decades, the City of Shelton, in partnership with the State of Connecticut and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, have invested a total of $23,250,000 towards the cleanup of environmentally challenged brownfields sites and buildings located along the Housatonic Riverfront in downtown Shelton.
Through a sustained effort, the City of Shelton has managed to demolish seven contaminated and blighted buildings and participate in the environmental clean-up of 14 acres of formerly contaminated industrial sites.
The grant, which is to be administered by the Shelton Economic Development Corporation, will be used to conduct the initial environmental investigations of four properties located at the north end of Canal Street from Wooster Street to the historic Shelton locks.
These efforts will include conducting Phase I and Phase II Studies of each property so that the City and potential developers fully understand the depths of the environmental concerns on each of these sites.
Paul Grimmer, President of Shelton Economic Development Corporation, stated “The US EPA’s allotment of funds for distribution to communities to undertake the necessary environmental clean-up operations is very limited. Thus, the competition for funds is fierce and over the past two decades the City of Shelton has shown that it can deliver impressive results.”
“The results have been transformative as Shelton has revitalized a once blighted and decayed industrial zone into thriving private and public spaces. As a result of the public investment, the City has been successful in leveraging nearly $85,000,000 in private investments which has led to the construction of 396 residential units, with an additional 140 housing units coming online in 2018. Together, we can continue to do see great results with these public dollars,” stated Mayor Mark A. Lauretti.
