Area commission plans to use EPA money for Bellows Falls brownfields

Tom Benoit, The Keene Sentinel, N.H.
·3 min read

Jul. 13—BELLOWS FALLS — The Windham Regional Commission plans to use U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funding and support to address multiple brownfield sites in the Under the Hill and Bellows Falls Island districts.

The state of Vermont was granted a record $4.8 million from the EPA in May for brownfield investments. The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) was awarded $500,000 of this money, which will go to the commission's revolving loan fund to support current and potential property owners interested in cleaning up contaminated sites before redevelopment.

Based in Brattleboro, the WRC assists 27 towns in this area of Vermont on planning and zoning, including brownfield redevelopment.

A brownfield is a site whose redevelopment, expansion or reuse may be complicated by the presence of hazardous substances, contaminants or pollutants.

WRC senior planner Sue Westa said the commission is especially excited about the grant because of the recent completion of a brownfield area-wide plan for the Bellows Falls Island and Under the Hill districts.

The Bellows Falls Island district is on the island between the Connecticut River and the Bellows Falls Canal. It consists of art studios and light manufacturing with office space, according to Rockingham Development Director Gary Fox. The district is home to several brownfields, including former mills with suspected and known contamination.

The former mill sites along the west bank of the Connecticut River make up the Under the Hill district, which is home to the Adams Grist Mill Museum and Bellows Falls Historic Riverfront Park, the plan's documents state.

The contamination in the two districts is consistent with former mills, rail uses and the automotive industry, according to surveying conducted there. Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) including Tetrochloroethene, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals and dioxin have been identified at sites in the districts.

Hazardous materials such as asbestos, PCBs and mold are suspected at buildings in the districts due to their age, according to an environmental overview of the two districts.

WRC's area-wide plan includes the development of a canal walk along the Bellows Falls Canal, as well as using the former Westminster Street Meatland site in the Under the Hill district to develop a gateway and overlook. The Meatland site was previously home to a print shop, auto garage, a pub, laundromat, the Elks Club and a toy shop, according to the EPA.

The plan also includes building a Connecticut River Heritage Center by transforming two former Under the Hill district paper mill sites, the T.L. Riley and Penta/Wyman Flint sites, and incorporating the Adams Grist Mill Museum.

The gateway and overlook would offer views of the railroad, the heritage center, Riverfront Park and the Connecticut River to the south, according to the area-wide plan.

The Windham Regional Commission and the town of Rockingham are also in the early stages of receiving EPA technical assistance, separate from the grant. EPA Brownfields Coordinator Jessica Dominguez said the program can fund work such as market studies and resilience planning.

"Technical Assistance will address the financing that will be needed for site redevelopment on the Island," Westa said in an email. "[EPA's] consultant, Vita Nuova, will develop a financial model to help the town identify costs for development scenarios identified in the Areawide Plan. The town will use this information in grant applications and to attract developers."

Dominguez said the aim of the EPA's technical assistance for Bellows Falls is to "help the community figure out what each site needs to do next and flesh that out a bit more."

Technical assistance work will start next week, with cleanup and redevelopment taking place at different places at different times, Westa said in an email.

Tom Benoit can be reached 352-5993 or tbenoit@keenesentinel.com.