Technical Assistance Success Stories | EPA #560F22308 March 2022 Planning for Sustainable Brownfield Redevelopment FORMER GREAT NORTHERN PAPER SITE - EAST AAILUNOCKET, ME (EPA REGION 1) REUSE PLANNING & FINANCIAL MODEL FOR FORMER PAPER MILL SITE SITE STATISTICS • Community: East Millinocket, Maine • Local project lead: Town of East Millinocket, East Millinocket Industrials (EMI) • Former use: Paper Mill • Future use: Industrial, Warehouse, and Manufacturing • Brownfields technical assistance: Site Reuse Planning and Funding/Financial Analysis PROJECT BACKGROUND The former Great Northern Paper site is a 214-acre industrial property owned by the Town of East Millinocket, Maine. Originally opened in 1907, the site operated as a paper mill until 2014. The mill site included more than 60 buildings, rail spurs, a hydropower plant adjacent to the Penobscot River, and other infrastructure. The Town acquired the property in 2020 to make land available for new industrial uses with a goal of providing local jobs, In coordination with EMI, a local non-profit economic development entity, East Millinocket is pursuing warehouse, industrial, manufacturing, and other commercial uses at the site. PROJECT CHALLENGE East Millinocket needed brownfields expertise to complete a conceptual site reuse plan and an analysis of financial feasibility, The Town also needed (1) an itemized list of site improvements needed to develop the site completely, and (2) an estimate of how to pay for the necessary improvements, using potential income projections from future lease of the land and structures. HOW EPA HELPED In 2021, the U.S, EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (OBLR) provided technical assistance (TA) to the Town to support their brownfield site cleanup and reuse efforts, The TA included the following support: • Built a base map of the former mill area (in GIS and CAD format) and used it to create a conceptual site reuse plan that maximized the construction within the unconstrained development area (73 acres) and the rehabilitation of existing structures (totaling approximately 253,000 square feet), • Determined the site infrastructure and other improvements needed to achieve site reuse goals, established a budget for the improvements, and identified funding sources. • Completed a financial analysis and cash flow models for three site reuse options: (1) the Town leases land to tenants who will develop the property, (2) the Town renovates and leases existing buildings, and (3) the Town sells the land or existing buildings to developers or other end users. • Created an "evergreen" model that the Town and EMI can use to analyze the future costs of site development. The model will help them evaluate future property lease or purchase agreements. COMMUNITY'S NEXT STEPS • Review the infrastructure analysis and the cash flow models to understand the next steps that are required for site remediation and redevelopment. • Consider assigning a dedicated site manager to oversee activities and address needs for the Great Northern Paper Mill site. • Pursue available public funding and seek additional gap financing to cover specific development or cleanup activities. Questions? Please contact EPA Region 1: Jim Byrne Figure 1: East Millinocket Site in October 2021. ------- |