&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-129
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Norwich & Griswold, CT
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful
information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment,
environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Norwich and the Town
of Griswold for a Brownfields Pilot. Norwich
(population 37,319) is located approximately 15
miles north of New London and 40 miles southeast of
Hartford, at the head of the Thames River. Griswold
(population 10,384) lies 32 miles northeast of
Norwich. Located within one of the oldest settled
areas in the United States, Norwich and Griswold
have suffered high unemployment and poverty rates
in recent years due to the departure of textile and
othermajormanufacturing industries duringthe 1960s
and 1970s. To reduce poverty within distressed
neighborhoods, the State of Connecticut designated
Norwich as a Targeted Investment Community and
an Urban Enterprise Zone. Similarly, the state created
an Enterprise Corridor Zone in Griswold to encourage
development, and to focus tax incentives on the
town's blighted and abandoned sites. This area of
Connecticut was once one of the nation's leading
firearms manufacturing centers, and home to stove,
lock, paper and textile manufacturers serviced by the
Norwich-Worcester Railroad. By 1987, however,
manufacturing jobs in the area had dwindled to only
17% of the area's total employment.
Many former factories have been torn down or now
sit abandoned in the midst of residential
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Norwich & Griswold,
Connecticut
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
five major undeveloped
mill properties, four of
which are located in
Norwich's Urban
Enterprise Zone.
Contacts:
Norwich Office of
Economic Development
City of Norwich
(860) 823-3744
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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neighborhoods. Several of these properties now
have suspected contamination. The Norwich-
Griswold Pilot seeks to restore at least five of its
major abandoned industrial properties to productive
use—the Greeneville Industrial District, the Falls
Avenue Mills area, the Dahl Oil/Shipping Street
Area, the Hopkins and Allen Firearms Company, and
the Triangle Wire Facility. Four of these properties
are located within Norwich's Urban Enterprise Zone;
the fifth, the Triangle Wire Facility, is located in
Griswold.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot will be a cooperative effort on the part of
project partners, property owners, local lenders, and
developers. The Pilot will converge stakeholder
efforts on removing uncertainties regarding
contamination and other barriers to redevelopment
at the five targeted sites by conducting environmental
site assessments, and outlining strategies and costs
for cleanup and redevelopment. Though the Pilot
funds will focus on site identification and
environmental assessments, the Pilot's efforts will
be supplemented by the work of the Pilot's cooperative
partners, including: conducting seminars for property
owners, lenders, and developers; conducting site
cleanup; and promoting and completing
redevelopment of the five targeted properties.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Ranking the five targeted sites by their economic
importance, likelihood of environmental hazard,
and ease of municipal acquisition;
• Completing Phase I, II and III assessments on each
of the targeted sites, and creating site cleanup plans
that will be used in future marketing efforts; and
• Preparing proj ect reports that summarize the results
of each assessment, and providing lists of potential
end uses for each site.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet
are subject to change.
Bmwnfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Norwich & Griswold, Connecticut
May 1998 EPA 500-F-98-129
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