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Brownfield Grant Boosts Schuylkill Redevelopment
On February 27, 2006 Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty presented a $400,000 grant to the Schuylkill River Development Corporation, a non-profit community organization that is developing the Schuylkill corridor. The Corporation will use the funding to conduct environmental assessment and cleanup on the land along the east bank of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.
The Corporation plans to create a 14-foot wide asphalt recreation trail along the 34th Street/Grays Ferry Avenue area which will provide recreational river front access that the area is currently lacking.
Schuylkill River Development Corp. will use the funding to conduct environmental assessment and remediation on the land where the trail will be located. Landscaping will be done on land adjacent to the trail, which will ultimately connect to the Schuylkill trail and Schuylkill River Park.
The funding comes from an EPA Brownfields grant under the Business Liability Relief and Brownfield Revitalization Act signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 11, 2002 in Conshohocken, Pa. The Act provides funds to pay for assessments and cleanups. Pennsylvania has received $1 million in Brownfield grants in each of the last three fiscal years.
The Schuylkill revitalization project has also been designated for assistance from the Pennsylvania Brownfield Action Team (BAT) by Governor Edward G. Rendell. The BAT designation for the Schuylkill river site involves the assessment and remediation of several properties which are planned for residential and supporting business development.
According to Secretary McGinty, the Brownfields Action Team designation helps to accelerate development and gives developers the incentive they need to clean up contaminated industrial sites. Brownfield Action Team projects typically get permitted in half the usual time. Approving a larger section of the riverfront as a BAT project now allows Philadelphia to add individual properties to the Schuylkill River Project as they become available, without having to apply for a new designation for each property. This will help expedite the overall waterfront redevelopment.
In May. the CEO of the Schuylkill River Development Corporation, Joe Syrinick, said that the DuPont Crescent project, at 34th Street/Grays Ferry Avenue, is moving forward and encouraged people to come see the progress. Syrinick added that the project has recently received addition support - - a $1 million grant from federal funds administered through Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for the Schuylkill River Trail.
DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty presents a check to Joe Syrnick, Schuylkill River Development Corp., for the development of the Dupont Crescent Recreation Trail project, which will transform a brownfield property into a river park in the Gray's Ferry section of Philadelphia. Partners in the development of the project are represented by Alisa Harris (Waste Management, Inc.); Kathy Hodgkiss (EPA); James Donaghy (City of Philadelphia); Peter Longstreth (PAID); John Westrum (Westrum Development Co.); and Robert Rullo ( EI Dupont).
The event was held inside the maintenance garage of The Philadelphia Trolley Works