Gray to Receive $500,000 Grant from U.S. EPA for Brownfields Assessment

The Town of Gray has been selected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to receive $500,000 in Brownfields Assessment Grants over a three-year period starting in 2022. These grants are awarded across the country for local communities to identify and assess underutilized properties for future clean-up and redevelopment, while protecting public health and the environment.

A “brownfield” site may be buildings and/or land with challenging redevelopment activity due to the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. This area-wide assessment grant award will benefit Gray’s economic revitalization efforts, including, but not limited to, future planning for the Gray Village Center and the Route 100/Portland Road Corridor as prioritized by Gray’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan, and other recent development initiatives supported by the Gray Town Council. 

“I’m pleased and honored that the EPA has awarded Gray with this $500,000 assessment grant. The brownfields program is so competitive because it offers a tremendous opportunity for towns like Gray that could not otherwise bring environmentally challenged properties back into productive use,” said Town Manager Nathaniel Rudy.

The three-year Brownfields Assessment Grant is the first step in a process by which potentially environmentally contaminated properties can be identified, evaluated, cleaned up or deemed uncontaminated, and presented to the community for commercial reuse or greenspace.

Funding for brownfields grants was approved by the Biden Administration on May 12, 2022. Gray’s $500,000 allocation is one award of the $254 million going to 265 communities across the United States, for other community remediation projects.

Questions about Brownfields and Land Revitalization programs can be directed to the EPA.