$300,000 Leads to a Cleaner Lynn

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June 4, 2017

The Daily Item

The city will be little cleaner thanks to a $300,000 Brownfields grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

U.S. Rep Seth Moulton (D-Salem) and the Lynn Economic Advancement and Development (LEAD) team worked to secure the cash.

seal of the United States Enviornonmental Protection Agency

i“This grant is yet another testament to the strength of the LEAD team,” said Moulton in a statement. “These sites, saddled by years of oil and chemical contamination, are an albatross around the neck of Lynn, and pose a serious threat to the city’s environmental and economic health.”

Brownfields funds help transform dirty, dormant properties into new businesses and homes, stimulating much needed jobs and tax revenue for Lynn, he said.

These competitive awards will be used for assessment and partial clean up. A $200,000 grant will determine what hazardous substances are located on six sites across Lynn, and prepare a cleanup plan.

Among the sites included is the former Whyte’s Laundry. The EPA estimates that it will cost about $350,000 to remove contaminants from the 15,000-square-foot parcel.

In addition, there’s a $100,000 remediation grant to clean 870 Western Avenue, a former gas station and automotive service facility.

Initial testing by the Economic Development and Industrial Corp., the city’s development bank, found soil and groundwater at the site are contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons.

James Cowdell, EDIC’s executive director, worked with Moulton’s office in applying for these two EPA grants.

“We are very appreciative to receive these critical grants,” said Cowdell in a statement.

In addition to Moulton, members of the LEAD team include Gov. Charlie Baker, Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton, Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, state Sen. Thomas M. McGee, and state representatives Daniel CahillBrendan CrightonLori Ehrlich, and Donald Wong.


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