U.S. brownfields grants to aid six NH communities

Cleanup work, site assessments planned at contaminated sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $700,000 in grants to help six New Hampshire municipalities them clean up brownfields in their communities.

The grants were awarded to:

 • North Country Council Inc., which was selected for two brownfields assessment grants to perform work in Berlin, Colebrook, and Northumberland. A community-wide hazardous substances grant of $200,000 will be used to conduct six Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. A community-wide petroleum grant of $100,000 will be used to conduct three Phase I and two Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds of both types also will be used to inventory and characterize potential brownfields and support outreach and education activities.

 • The city of Somersworth, which was selected for a $200,000 Brownfields cleanup grant to perform cleanup work at the former Breton Cleaners property at 1 Winter St., which served as a B&M Railroad freight depot beginning in the 1850s until it was sold in 1974 to Prime Tanning, which owned a leather tanning mill across the Salmon Falls River in nearby Berwick, Maine. The city acquired the property in 2016. The cleanup site is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene and metals.

 • The Southwest Region Planning Commission, which was selected for a $200,000 grant to perform environmental assessments in Hinsdale and Winchester. Grant funds also will be used to develop three cleanup plans and support community outreach and engagement activities.

“Environmental site assessments provide communities the information they need to position contaminated properties for subsequent cleanup, said DES Commissioner Robert Scott. “The cleanup of contaminated properties often serves as a catalyst for both public and private investment in the communities in which they are located.”