Lamont Awards $28.2M In Brownfield Grants, Including $200K For Newtown Site

NEWTOWN, CT — Connecticut is awarding $28.2 million in state grants to assess and clean up 16 blighted properties across 13 towns and cities, including a former industrial site in Newtown, as part of an effort to spur redevelopment and expand housing, state officials said Wednesday.

The funding, released through the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s Brownfield Remediation and Development Program, is expected to help return more than 200 acres of land to productive use. Officials project the grants will leverage more than $354 million in private investment and support the creation of about 835 housing units, including 157 designated as affordable.

Newtown will receive $200,000 for further assessment of the former Charles Batchelder Co. property, a 33.4-acre site at 44 and 46A Swamp Road that once housed an aluminum smelting operation. The grant, awarded to the Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank Inc., will be used to fill data gaps from earlier remediation efforts as the town evaluates future uses of the property, including a solar field and potential industrial or commercial development.

Gov. Ned Lamont said the grants are aimed at turning long-dormant properties into assets for local communities.

“By cleaning up blighted and vacant properties, we can put this land back into productive use in smart ways that support the growth of businesses and new jobs, and also build new housing,” Lamont said in a statement.

DECD Commissioner Daniel O’Keefe said the latest round of funding is particularly focused on addressing housing needs while helping communities move past the environmental challenges that have stalled redevelopment.

“Our investments in these dormant, polluted sites are critical to helping communities capitalize on opportunities for reinvention,” O’Keefe said.

In addition to Newtown, grants were awarded for projects in Ashford, Willington, Bridgeport, Chaplin, Enfield, Greenwich, Hartford, Killingly, Shelton, Torrington, Watertown and West Hartford. Several of the projects involve large-scale mixed-use or transit-oriented developments, while others focus on environmental assessments and planning needed to advance future reuse.

State officials said the brownfield program is a key tool in revitalizing former industrial and commercial sites that would otherwise remain underused due to contamination concerns.