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Questions and Answers March 2001 |
| 1) Will the former Eastland Woolen Mill and surrounding area ever
be redeveloped since it is a Superfund Site?
The Superfund program was established 20 years ago to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites around the United States. EPA established methods for identifying these hazardous waste sites, selecting cleanup remedies, and removing contamination. Initially, the Superfund program focused on the investigation and cleanup of the sites. However, over time, EPA has focused more attention to re-establishing these locations for productive use. By the end of 2000, EPA completed cleanup at over 750 Superfund sites. Many of these abandoned hazardous waste sites have since become occupied by soccer fields, golf courses, shopping malls and office buildings. EPA calls sites like the Eastland Woolen Mill "Brownfields". Brownfields are in-town properties that are abandoned or underused because of environmental contamination. Brownfields contrast with "greenfields", which is a term often used for clean, undeveloped land out of town. EPA and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection have developed programs to support redevelopment of formerly contaminated sites. Formerly contaminated sites that have been redeveloped include the Bangor Gas Works site—now a Shaws Supermarket, Lewiston’s Bates Mill—now partly occupied by Peoples Bank, and Portland’s Back Bay area-now being prepared for redevelopment. The EPA and DEP programs and other questions related to redevelopment will be discussed here in the future.
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