Connecticut awards brownfield cleanup grants to rail projects

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy announced $1 million in state grants to fund projects that will return blighted areas to productive use.

The funds are being awarded by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development through the recently launched Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Grant program. This is the second round of grants being awarded under the program.

The grants include $200,000 each to:
• the city of Ansonia to develop a plan to restore the economic vitality of the Ansonia Brass Company site and adjacent former industrial properties in Ansonia's downtown. The property is adjacent to a commuter-rail station and along the Naugatuck River.

• the town of Naugatuck, for the planning and development of the inland Port of Naugatuck. The port is a proposed intermodal freight-rail terminal which would leverage the underused existing rail line and continuous rail access to points north of Naugatuck to transport consumer goods for warehousing and distribution.

• the Bridgeport Economic Development Corp. to create a comprehensive strategy to remediate and redevelop the Bridgeport Brass Project Area, which is near Bridgeport's central business district and intermodal center. The project provides the opportunity to optimize transportation and waterfront access and site use.

"By making investments in these scarred, abandoned and otherwise unusable parcels of land, we can attract many more times that amount back in private investments while also making communities more attractive to business and job growth," said Malloy in a press release.