WATERBURY, Conn. — State leaders announced new historic funding that will re-purpose certain old manufacturing facilities across the state.
The goal is to eliminate the contaminants left at those sites and make areas safer, cleaner, and more prosperous.
At a construction site on Main Street in Waterbury, crews worked to sort through the rubble of an old building Monday morning.
“That is the sound of change, taking a hazardous site and creating something beautiful," said David Cash, the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Brownfield Grant Program helps cities all across the nation and here in Connecticut clean up buildings that are eye sores in communities, turning old manufacturing facilities into more housing, more jobs, and overall, more economic growth.
The grant program works by identifying contaminated properties and then revitalizing them.
Senator Richard Blumenthal and State Representative Jahana Hayes announced new funding, almost $9 million for seven different communities in the state.
Waterbury, Easthampton, Killingly, Naugatuck, Norwalk, New London, and Bridgeport are all getting a piece of the pie to create new designs and options for un-used areas.
It's the largest investment in the EPA Brownfield Program history.
The goal is to eliminate contamination on certain sites and find new ways to use the spaces that are more beneficial to the community.
"We are evading pollution, providing a path for redevelopment for spaces for commercial and residential areas. We're creating more jobs in disadvantaged communities, we are turning a bad thing into a good thing," said Cash.
The work in those seven communities can begin right now, but the work is already underway in Waterbury.
Lindsey Kane is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at Lkane@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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