Assessment of Quebecor site to get under way
State grant allows brownfield cleanup work to advance
Now that a $100,000 grant has come through, the owner of the former Quebecor printing facility on Bluemound Road wants the environmental assessment of the property completed by October, but city officials think that timeline might be a bit aggressive.
The city received the $100,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the money is to be used to start the assessment and cleanup of the former industrial site near Brookfield's eastern border.
Identified as brownfield
The site is classified as a brownfield, which state and federal guidelines define as abandoned or underused commercial or residential property on which expansion or redevelopment is blocked by contamination or the perception of contamination.
The Brownfield Site Assessment grant will allow the city to work out contracts with companies to complete assessment and remediation work at the 25-acre site, said Dan Ertl, Brookfield's director of community development.
In addition, property owner Worldcolor will contribute $16,000 and the city will contribute $4,000 worth of staff time and other administrative services, Ertl said.
Under the rules of the grant, the city has a year to complete the assessment.
More money needed
Remediation work at the Quebecor site would include asbestos cleanup and the removal of underground storage tanks. However, not all those costs will be covered by the state grant, Ertl said, and the city will continue to seek additional grants to help pay for the cleanup at the site.
The city applied for but did not receive a $1 million Environmental Protection Agency grant that would have helped pay for the cleanup, but, Ertl said, the city could apply for the grant next year if money is allocated federally for the program.
Also, if the site is redeveloped and no more grant money is received, the future developer or landowner will be responsible for any additional cleanup costs, Ertl said.
The Quebecor site has been for sale since the plant closed in 2006.
Statewide effort
The city was one of six government applicants - the others were Appleton, Adams County, Elkhorn, Gillett and Horicon - to receive the $100,000 grants, part of $1.5 million awarded by the DNR this year.
The 34 total grants will fund assessment and remediation work on nearly 126 acres.
"Brownfield cleanups are a priority as the state works to spur economic development in communities throughout Wisconsin," Gov. Jim Doyle said in a news release. "Cleaning up brownfield properties helps bring additional reinvestment in communities, and helps create jobs for hardworking Wisconsin families."
Since 1999, the state has awarded $17.5 million in Brownfield Site Assessment Grants to 205 communities.
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