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\ Brownfields 2017 Area-Wide Planning Grant Fact Sheet
Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Bucksport, ME
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities,
and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess,
safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A
brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment,
or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or
contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and
communities around the country clean up and revitalize
brownfields sites. Under this law, EPA provides financial
assistance to eligible applicants through competitive grant
programs for brownfields site assessment, site cleanup,
revolving loan funds, area-wide planning, and job training.
Additional funding support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.
Brownfields Area-Wide Planning
Program
EPA's Brownfields Area-Wide Planning
Program assists communities in responding
to local brownfields challenges,
particularly where multiple brownfield
sites are in close proximity, connected by
infrastructure, and limit the economic,
environmental and social prosperity of
their surroundings. This program enhances
EPA's core brownfields assistance
programs by providing grant funding to
communities so they can perform the
research needed to develop an area-wide
plan and implementation strategies for
brownfields assessment, cleanup, and
reuse. The resulting area-wide plans
provide direction for future brownfields
area improvements that are protective of
public health and the environment,
economically viable, and reflective of the
community's vision for the area.
Project Description
$200,000.00
EPA has selected the Eastern Maine Development
Corporation as a Brownfields Area-Wide
Planning Grant recipient. The Eastern Maine
Development Corporation will work with the
community and other stakeholders to develop an
area-wide plan and implementation strategy for
the former Verso Paper Mill project area. The
117-acre area, located on the Penobscot River,
abuts the Town of Bucksport's residential and
commercial center. The paper mill closed in 2014
and is currently vacant, and the project area also
contains vacant buildings that once housed a
tannery and a steel mill. The area-wide grant will
be used to supplement ongoing planning efforts in
the project area. It will include a market study that
will analyze the local and regional market for the
former mill space; analyze the mix of downtown
and regional trade areas; evaluate opportunities;
develop a strategy for retention, expansion, and
recruitment; identify existing infrastructure in the
mill complex; and create a green infrastructure
plan that will consider developing the riverfront
area and connecting it to downtown. The project is
expected to build on and advance sustainable and
equitable development opportunities that will
greatly benefit the community, including
increasing affordable transportation options,
promoting equitable and affordable housing,
enhancing economic competitiveness, and
supporting the sustainable use of existing
infrastructure. Key partners who will work with
the Eastern Maine Development Corporation on
this project include the Bucksport Bay Area
Chamber of Commerce, Bucksport NEXT, Main
Street Bucksport, and Bucksport Heart and
Soul.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-17-001
January 2017

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Contacts
For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional
grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and
links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
(617)918-1627
EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
(https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfie
lds-and-land-revitalization-connecticut-
maine-massachusetts-new-hampshire-rhode)
Grant Recipient: Eastern Maine Development Corporation, ME
(207) 974-3236
The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant
proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The
cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20450
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
Solid Waste
EPA 560-F-17-001
January 2017

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