Brownfields Success Stories

The NRPC Brownfields Program works with a wide variety of partners to encourage reuse and development of properties with perceived or actual contamination issues. Our program is focused on results that benefit the communities of Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, VT.

Factory Turned Affordable Housing -
Leader Evaporator

At 2½-acres, the former Leader Evaporator property has played an integral role in the development history of downtown St. Albans. For more than 100 years, the site has hosted a variety of industrial and commercial uses, including woodworking, fuel oil storage and sales, clothing manufacturing, and most recently, manufacturing of maple syrup equipment – all within an urban residential neighborhood. When Leader Evaporator needed to expand its facility, the downtown site was too small to accommodate its growth. However, its historic structure, complete with elevator and parking proved to be a perfect location for housing.

Working with the site owner and the prospective developers, the Regional Commission invested nearly $83,722 of its grant funds to investigate the site and develop a plan for addressing soils contaminated by lead-based paint and soil and groundwater contamination from a former fuel oil dealer. The contamination at the site was relatively low-level, but protecting the safety of construction workers and the people who would live there was a primary concern of developers. Kathy Beyer, Project Developer for Housing Vermont, said “The Regional Commission’s consultant met with us as often as we needed to discuss options and costs for addressing the environmental issues.” Housing Vermont bought the property in April 2006. Ownership was transferred to the Champlain Housing Trust in September 2006. The Trust invested $6.7 million for remediation and construction activities, and developed 24 units of rental housing; deed restrictions will guarantee that 20 of these units will be perpetually affordable. Remediation work was funded through a $92,000 grant from the Vermont Community Development Block Grant program. Redevelopment funding included $505,000 from the Vermont Community Development Block Grant program, sale of historic tax credits, and private funding.

Willard Mill Apartments opened to new residents in 2007 and was fully leased prior to opening. This highly visible downtown project created jobs and incorporated energy efficient and smart growth features. Tubular skylights bring natural light to lower floors and hallways, and automatic sensors judge when hallway lights should be turned on. Renovation of the Leader structure left post-and-beam construction materials exposed in hallways and apartments and natural wood floors and ceilings in place, adding welcomed historic character to apartments. EPA Region 1 highlighted this successful project on its storyboard at the 2006 National Brownfields Conference.

Litchfield Property

David Litchfield became an unwilling owner of a ½-acre brownfield in Swanton when he bought what he thought would be an investment property at a tax sale. First, he discovered that the rental property was in such poor condition that it had to be demolished. In hopes of cutting his loses, he tried to sell the property – and discovered in the process that it had once operated as a gasoline and service station. “Because I couldn’t prove that the gas tanks had been removed, nobody wanted to buy it,” Litchfield told the Brownfields Steering Committee. The Brownfields Program spent $43,555 of its grant funds to help Litchfield prove that there were no fuel tanks on the property and the site could be redeveloped. The brownfields assessment leveraged $80,000 in private funds and in-kind services when the Green Mountain Chapter of Habitat for Humanity purchased the property in 2006. Habitat developed a duplex residence with the assistance of local businesses and residents and the future homeowners. Residual petroleum contamination in the soil and groundwater will be naturally attenuated, a process by which microbes gradually eat the petroleum and convert it to carbon dioxide. Habitat removed a contaminated dry well and septic system prior to redevelopment. Two families now have a safe and affordable home in the village of Swanton. EPA Region 1 highlighted the project through a BRAG sheet in 2008.

Swanton Town Garage

When the State of Vermont conveyed its old highway garage to the Town of Swanton, the Town wanted to investigate whether its existing municipal garage had any environmental issues that would need to be addressed before the property was sold or redeveloped and garage operations were moved to the former state garage. The Swanton Town Garage sits on ¾-acre across from the Swanton Elementary School and adjacent to a proposed bicycle and walking path. Developers have indicated that the site has a high potential for redevelopment as housing. Town Administrator Dick Thompson, who participates on the Brownfields Program Steering Committee, observed “I don’t think that most taxpayers understand the benefits of these types of programs to our municipal budget. Participating in the Brownfields Program saved the Town nearly $28,000 in investigation costs, and allowed us to better understand conditions that might have to be addressed before redevelopment.”

Field of Dreams

For more than 50 years, children have used the 4-acre Field of Dreams property to play ball. From informal games in a cow field to Little League games on today’s groomed fields, the site has been an integral part of recreation in St. Albans City. Children use the property each year for Little League activities and as a neighborhood park. In 2005, the St. Albans Little League approached the City of St. Albans in hopes of convincing the City to purchase the property, which was currently leased by the City. The League needed to make capital improvements to support recreational activities, but the property owner was hesitant to allow extensive improvements to a leased property. Brownfields program research into the property’s history and use uncovered environmental contamination on adjacent and upstream properties and the potential for this contamination to have spread to the Field of Dreams site. As a result, the VT Department of Environmental Conservation required the CV Properties to test areas of the property to insure recreational uses could continue. Ultimately, CV Properties confirmed low level contamination near Stevens Brook and fenced this portion of the property from use. The fenced section receives floodwater from the Brook and contamination at the Field of Dreams property is suspected to result from soil deposition from an upstream property that is contaminated. VT DEC indicated that recreational use of the property could continue, and parents were assured that use did not pose a hazard to children. In 2008, the St. Albans Little League initiated a $450,000 capital campaign aimed at purchasing the property and making facility improvements.