Fact Sheet EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment. These communities share the difficult legacy of over 50 known brownfields properties. Naugatuck Valley brownfield sites include several former metal finishing and brass manufacturing sites.
Environmental justice is a significant concern for the specific areas currently under examination.
The neighborhoods in, or adjacent to, these areas contain significant minority populations and pockets of high unemployment. In Danbury, target sites include the Mallory Hat Factory site and the 13 Barnum Court site. The two most likely candidates in the Valley include the Derby Revitalization District and a site in downtown Waterbury. Other possible sites include the Plume and Atwood site in Thomaston, the 11 Jansen Street site in Danbury, and other properties in Watertown, Ansonia, and Waterbury. The Valley Regional Planning Agency will serve as lead agency.