On October 13, Gov. Tom Wolf announced the approval of new funding through the Industrial Sites Reuse Program to the Regional Industrial Development Corporation to perform environmental remediation on the three main bay cranes located at Mill 19 at the Hazelwood Green brownfield site in Allegheny County.
"The ongoing Mill 19 project is a major investment in western Pennsylvania and an example of productively utilizing and bringing new life to unused and unsafe spaces in the Commonwealth. This property was shuttered and left vacant with the collapse of the steel industry, and these investments now allow for renovations to ensure a safe and updated property equipped for new opportunity," said Gov. Wolf. "This funding will bring purpose back to Mill 19 for many years to come and revive the surrounding communities."
Mill 19 at the Hazelwood Green site is one of three existing structures that remain standing from when the site was used for steel production.
The cranes are part of Mill 19's 265,000 square foot complex on the 178-acre Hazelwood Green site, which contains two newly constructed buildings and one in the planning stage. Each crane contains lead-based paint and a small amount of asbestos-containing materials.
The ISRP grant will provide $300,000 to conduct asbestos and lead-based paint remediation on all three large cranes' surfaces. The RIDC will provide matching funds of $100,000.
Once remediated, the site will include flex office space, a ground floor garage, and lab and workshop space that conforms to the high-performance building characteristic.
"This funding is so important to remove toxic and unsafe chemicals as Mill 19 continues to be revamped. It makes certain that the property is safe for incoming tenants and Pittsburgh as a whole," said Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Dennis Davin. "The RIDC's commitment to transforming this space for productive use is going to bring countless new jobs and businesses to Allegheny County, and we can’t wait to see this project come to completion."
Mill 19 has been designed to be eco-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and LEED v4 Gold certified. Mill 19's first building will house Carnegie Mellon University's Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute (ARM) and CMU's Manufacturing Futures Initiative (MFI).
In 2018, construction began on the second building, a new 70,000 square foot workspace that will house a corporate research and development center for a global technology company.
In the past, the RIDC has received $9.6 million in grants and $14.4 million in loans through Business in Our Sites project funding through the Commonwealth Financing Authority and an additional $300,000 in ISRP funds to continue with the redevelopment of Mill 19.
“Environmental remediation like this provides multiple benefits by getting harmful pollutants like lead paint and asbestos out of the environment and spurring economic development,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Through funding programs like ISRP we can continue building the economy of the future without being limited by pollution from the past.”
Visit the Hazelwood Green website for more information on the redevelopment of this brownfield site in Allegheny County.
The ISRP provides loans and grants for environmental assessments and remediation carried out by eligible applicants who did not cause or contribute to the contamination. The program is designed to foster the cleanup of environmental contamination at industrial sites, thereby bringing blighted land into productive reuse.
For more information about this program, visit DCED’s Industrial Sites Reuse Program webpage.
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[Posted: October 13, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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