Brownfield projects breathe life into underutilized sites

U.S. Route 1 winds along the coast of Washington County passing through towns and small cities that often have the vestiges of a more vibrant transportation‑based industry left behind. A garage in Jonesboro sags on its foundation and leans precariously towards the highway. Another garage in Pembroke stands vacant as it waits for a buyer to see new promise in its prime highway location. In Eastport an old waterfront factory made of concrete sends great slabs of its flat roof crashing to the ground during the winters.
These are just a few of the projects that have undergone brownfields assessments since 2009, when Washington County Council of Governments (WCCOG) received a $400,000 brownfields assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Hindering the sale of many underutilized properties that have a past involving hazardous fuels and chemical processes is the possibility of site contamination. Summing up the program is Todd Coffin of GEI Consultants, who works with WCCOG on the assessments. "The idea of the brownfield projects is that they benefit the community by reusing existing buildings and sites with uses that are compatible with the history and culture of the area." WCCOG Executive Director Judy East adds, "They give certainty where there was none -- legal, environmental and financial."
"These are assessment funds, not remediation funds," explains East. "But what this does is it takes care of the uncertainty factor. It paves the way towards redevelopment." And that redevelopment is beginning to happen. Eastport's Consea factory site was sold by the city in 2011 to David Pottle of Perry. He is expanding his lobster pound business "one‑hundred fold," says East.
Coffin has worked with East on phase 1 and 2 assessments. "We didn't find a lot," he says of the Consea site. "A lot of coast land is fill. It's not squeaky clean." Such a site falls into the "practical solution category," he explains, much like the assessment taking place at the city's Deep Cove property where the Boat School is located and soon to be sold.
"We know it's contaminated from past reports," Coffin says of the Deep Cove property. In the past, wells were closed because of groundwater contamination. "We sat down with the Department of Environmental Protection and said, if it [the use] doesn't really change, can we get some kind of closure without spending a lot of money." Because the use under new ownership will continue to be similar to the past use, a management plan was created that will be incorporated into the property's deed. "We want to be sure that future operations don't pollute," says Coffin. "In all my experience with the program and with DEP, the level of cooperation -- get in there and figure out a solution -- it was enormous," says East.
The Schoppee Garage in Jonesboro is a familiar site to anyone who enjoys the ghostly echoes of past industry. The wood‑frame, one‑story building hugs a small bit of land along Route 1, just before the bridge passes over the Chandler River. The assessment found that there was only minor residual contamination left from a gasoline leak from many years ago, and hazardous materials inside the garage have almost all been disposed of. According to Coffin and East, the Schoppee family is now in the process of planning what to do with the property, including the possibility of a town park with a stone and plaque marking the site of the former garage. "It's a tiny space, but it could be a pocket park with access to the water," East says.
Two other garages, Antone's in Pembroke and Bridges' garage in Calais, have undergone brownfields assessments and been put on the market. Antone's backs up against the Maine Department of Transportation site that is also undergoing an assessment before the Town of Pembroke negotiates full transfer of the property to town use.
Antone's underwent two assessment phases "because it was an old gas station and it had a body shop. It still had a gas tank present," says Coffin. Because the assessment needed to sample the soil under and around the tank, funds could be used for the tank's removal, at a cost of about $15,000. "What a great thing it was to be able to do that," says East. An on‑site water well and wells on surrounding properties were tested and came back with a clean bill‑of‑health. After that, Coffin says, interest in the property by prospective buyers increased substantially. The property has since sold.
"That's the beauty of it," says East. "These sites are in such great locations."
WCCOG and Coffin have also conducted assessments of: Machias Laundry, 15 Sea Street and Moose Island Marine, both of Eastport, Harrington Community Center and O'Neal's Garage.