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UConn Partners with Clinton for Brownfields Study

Several prominent sites in town may be missing new development opportunities due to uncertainty about possible contamination from previous uses. Through a new partnership with UConn, Clinton will be able to assess brownfield sites in town and analyze prospects for future redevelopment—at no cost to the town.

Maria Chrysochoou, Ph.D., the director of UConn’s Connecticut Brownfields Initiative (CBI), said the purpose of the CBI Municipal Assistance Program is to provide service learning for students and to give back to communities.

“It’s really a collaboration between UConn, the state, and industry. It’s a very close relationship between all three,” Chrysochoou said.

“We are excited to be working with the UConn staff and students on this grant,” First Selectman Christine Goupil said. “The town would not otherwise have this opportunity to conduct an in-depth environmental assessment of these properties. This grant can help with those early steps to unlock the economic potential of undeveloped/underutilized areas of town.”

Goupil outlined several steps that the program will entail.

“As for process, the UConn students will start collecting and analyzing community needs related data for Clinton’s brownfield properties to develop the draft of an EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant. Consultant planner John Guszkowski and I will work on the identifying some key properties, point to a few more potentials, and assist with the general understanding of what Clinton’s demographics and overall development challenges,” Goupil said.

Guszkowski highlighted four specific areas in town for consideration: The central Unilever site on Hull Street, the former Unilever warehouse at 30 Old Post Road, the Stanley-Bostitch site on Knollwood Drive, and Clinton Nurseries. Additionally, Goupil said that several sites along Route One could be considered.

Goupil said the Town Plan of Conservation and Development would be key to directing some of the student’s work, supplemented by reports from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

“In many cases, under-utilization of properties is a combination of environmental constraints, coastal wetlands, marshes, and lack of sewer infrastructure, and a challenging market, but it is very possible that brownfields concerns are also at play,” Goupil said.

Goupil said that she will tour the commercial cores of the town with staff and students in the future.