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Weston State Rep. Shaban Announces Cleanup Grants

TRUMBULL, Conn. -- East Hartford, Meriden, New Britain, Old Saybrook, Waterbury and Torrington will each receive up to $200,000 from the Department of Economic and Community Development’s new Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization Grant program, State Rep. John Shaban (R) announced.

John Shaban represents Easton, Weston and Redding in the Connecticut House of Representatives.

John Shaban represents Easton, Weston and Redding in the Connecticut House of Representatives.

Photo Credit: File

The grants will help the municipalities assess, clean and reuse abandoned sites for new business, transportation, housing and/or public amenities, Shaban said in an announcement.

“These towns all have neighborhoods, downtowns and/or waterfront zones that have been disabled by polluted and abandoned brownfield sites,” said Shaban who represents Easton, Redding and Weston in the state House.

“Brownfield redevelopment is one of the few bright spots in the state government’s efforts to spark economic activity, because with some needed liability relief and a modest financial commitment by the state, private entities can invest, plan and thrive in places where they had been unable to exist for decades.”

Shaban is the Ranking Member of the Environment Committee, and a lawyer with an environmental law degree.

In the upcoming legislative session, Shaban will again be pushing for the establishment of a “Thousand Acres Brownfield Cleanup Campaign” that would divert funds away from the controversial ‘First in Five’ corporate grant program and towards the remediation and redevelopment of Connecticut’s remaining brownfields, said the announcement.

“Turning fallow, polluted land into useful sites for economic activity promotes both sound environmental stewardship and sound economic policy,” said Shaban.

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