Brownfields
Success Story
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Aided by an EPA Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund
grant, this dam and powerhouse were able to be
restored and put back in use as pictured above.
EPA Grant Recipients:
Windham Regional Commission,
Vermont Agency of Commerce and
Community Development,
Bennington County Regional
Commission
Grant Types:
Revolving Loan Fund,
Assessment
Current Use:
Hydroelectric Dam
Former Uses:
Textile factory
Pownal Dam
Town of Pownal, VT
A nonfunctioning 1900s dam that once powered industry has been
brought back to life and now provides electricity to a nearby college,
a medical center and town buildings in the small town of Pownal.
The cleanup and redevelopment of the Pownal Dam by a public-
private partnership has helped the region reach its renewable energy
goals.
Pownal Dam was selected as a Brownfields site by grantees who
wanted to help the developer rehabilitate the defunct dam. This
federal funding, vital to the redevelopment, helped motivate
developers to begin work on a significant project that is a model
for how local, state, federal and private entities can work together.
The outcomes of this project include cleaner waterways and the
production of green energy.
Motivation for Redevelopment
The hydropower dam had not operated since the 1980s. PCB
sediments had flowed down the river and were trapped behind
the 18-foot high concrete dam. Although the dam is next to the
Pownal Tannery Superfund site, the contamination addressed by
the Brownfields program originated from an industrial source
several miles upstream. A major concern throughout the process
was making certain that the trapped PCBs were not released and
able to flow downstream.
Congress has directed the EPA to give consideration to waterfront
brownfield sites and clean energy projects, making this
redevelopment an ideal candidate for grant funding. The nearly $4
million redevelopment received almost $300,000 from the EPA to
assess contaminated sediments and allow for removal during the
renovation of the dam. Partners included the private developer,
the Town of Pownal, and three grant recipients: Bennington
County Regional Commission, the Vermont Agency of Commerce
and Community Development and the Windham Regional
Commission.
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

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This project represents a
significant continuation of efforts to
address environmental issues in the
Hoosic River while also helping the
region take a major step toward
attainment of our renewable energy
goals. This innovative project will
provide benefits well into the future by
addressing a known environmental
problem and through the generation of
clean energy. On a personal level, it
was a pleasure to work on another
EPA Brownfields project with my
friend [the late] Bill Scully, who I met
while we worked together on the
cleanup and redevelopment of the
Vermont Tissue mill site located on the
Walloomsac River in North
Bennington, VT. ^
Jim Henderson
Environmental Program Manager at
Bennington County Regional Commission
For more information:
Visit the EPA Brownfields website at
www.epa.gov/brownfields or contact
Joe Ferrari, (617) 918 1105,
ferrari.joe@epa.gov.
Pownal Dam now provides power to Southern Vermont College
and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, both in
Bennington, as well as the town of Pownal. With the ability to
generate 3.5 million kilowatts per year, the dam has far more
capacity than it did in its original form (250 kilowatts per year).
This hydropower project not only helps to change the energy
landscape in Vermont away from non-renewable resources, it
also creates new jobs, and removes streambed pollution from
earlier industrial uses. In addition to reducing energy costs for
town buildings, the development will bring in tax revenue.
The redevelopment of this site led to new cutting-edge
techniques used to keep contaminated river sediments from
flowing downstream. It also has brought an environmentally
responsible and sustainable energy source to the Town of
Pownal and surrounding areas.
EPA 560-F-20-183
November 2020

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