Kingston awarded $52,000 to study cleanup costs at former fire station

Kingston will be able to better assess the cost of cleaning up the Maple Street site.

January 24, 2020 : wickedlocal.com, by Kathryn Gallerani

KINGSTON – Kingston will be able to better assess the cost of cleaning up the former Maple Street fire station site with a $52,028 grant from the state’s Brownfields Redevelopment Fund.

State and local officials announced Jan. 23 more than $2.6 million in Brownfields Redevelopment Fund awards for the environmental assessment and cleanup of 16 contaminated and challenging sites across Massachusetts.

According to a press release from the state, Kingston’s award will be used to assess contamination from the former oil company site at 8 and 10 Maple St., with the goal of improving its marketability to the private sector for a senior housing development.

Selectmen Chairman Josh Warren called the Brownfields grant another example of the state’s continued support of Kingston’s master plan.

“Kingston is grateful to the commonwealth for joining us in the cleanup and redevelopment of the closed Maple Street Fire Station,” he said in the press release.

He said the property is contaminated with fuel oil that migrated onto the site from the adjacent oil company.

“With this grant, we will conduct a site investigation to determine the scope and cost of site remediation,” he said. “With that report, we will work with MassDevelopment to seek the funds needed to restore and redevelop the property.”

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, oversees the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, which helps to transform vacant, abandoned, or underused industrial or commercial properties by financing the environmental assessment and remediation of brownfield sites in “economically distressed areas.”

Since the Fund’s inception in 1998, it has supported 743 awards for a total investment of more than $107 million.

“The Brownfields Redevelopment Fund breathes life into vacant or underused properties where redevelopment may be complicated by environmental contamination,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in the release.

“Today’s awards will provide communities with the resources they need to transform some of the state’s most challenging sites, clearing the way for much-need new housing units and opening the door for new jobs across the commonwealth.”

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito spoke to how the Brownfields program works with the MassWorks infrastructure grant program and Site Readiness Program to assist communities with economic development efforts. Kingston has secured $6 million in MassWorks grants.

“Along with other state resources like MassWorks and the Site Readiness Program, the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund helps municipalities unlock key sites and set the stage for economic development to occur,” Polito said.