Federal and local officials gathered on Monday for the presentation of an Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields grant to the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission.
Brownfields grants help communities clean up contaminated or abandoned land.
The MRPC, which covers 22 communities in North Central Massachusetts, found out last month that it would receive the $400,000 grant, pending successful completion of the application process. The group applied for the grant as part of the EPA Brownfields Program, which distributes federal funds to assess contaminated sites and help lead to the redevelopment of these sites.
The grant will be used for both Phase 1 assessments (reviews of all known site history) and Phase 2 assessments (actual site samplings). Half of these grant funds will be used within the Wachusett corridor -- Fitchburg, Leominster and parts of Westminster.
On Monday, EPA Boston Program Manager Nancy Barmakian presented the check to MRPC Chairman Victor Koivumaki in Lancaster, at a former Brownfield site that is now a large solar array.
"I congratulate the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission and all its partner communities who will be involved in taking these steps together in the Wachusett corridor," Barmakian said. "(This grant) will help the MRPC assist its member communities to address the blight and economic stigma of Brownfield sites."
She said the MRPC has received numerous grants since 1998, resulting in 58 Phase 1 and Phase 2 site assessments and "jump-starting redevelopment in a variety of areas.
U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas pointed out that the project behind her was one of the most successful results of a past Brownfields assessment.
"This highly productive solar facility was formerly a landfill, and thanks to investments from the federal government, the land was given back to the town," she said.
Lancaster Town Administrator Ryan McNutt underscored Tsongas' point by noting that "today alone, this array has produced 1.1 megawatts of solar energy."
"Through the efforts of all the people here, and my predecessor Orlando Pacheco, we've shown what is possible on land that has little other productive use," McNutt said.
"I look forward to what comes of the Brownfield assessments that will take place, and how many communities take advantage of those findings," said Tsongas.
The final speaker was Koivumaki, who extended kudos and thanks to his staff at the MRPC.
All EPA brownfield grants given to the MRPC in previous years have been "very successful," Koivumaki said, and he is anticipating further success with this newest grant. Many communities in the Wachusett corridor have already expressed interest in applying for assessments, he said.