SMPDC Brownfields Assessment & RLF

TRC has been assisting the Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission (SMPDC) with their Brownfields Program since 2014 as their Qualified Environmental Professional. SMPDC has been awarded multiple Brownfields Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grants.

TRC frequently completes Brownfields projects for SMPDC on behalf of the members of the Southern Maine community in York, Oxford, and Cumberland counties. In the past two years, tasks have included several Phase I ESAs and QAPPs/Phase II ESAs/HBMSs for a variety of sites, ranging from vacant properties to gas stations to former schools and beyond. TRC also assists SMPDC in administering and overseeing their RLF and Program Income loans by working with and advising developers.

Recently, TRC completed a QAPP/Phase II ESA funded by the Assessment Grant at the City of Saco’s Public Works facility, which included soil, groundwater and soil gas sampling to assess the site for impacts related to former and current USTs and the use of the property as a public works yard and truck terminal since the 1970s.

TRC also assessed portions of the site for potential airborne deposition of heavy metals and PCBs from an adjacent junkyard. The City and SMPDC requested our expertise to understand potential reuse options for the site following the relocation of the facility.

TRC performed Phase I ESAs, SSQAPPs/Phase II ESAs, and HBMSs at the former Snow School site in Fryeburg for SMPDC. The concerns at the property included former USTs and hazardous building materials associated with aging buildings. Avesta Housing is working with the Town to redevelop the site for affordable housing.

TRC worked with a developer using Program Income funding to assess a long-vacant and vandalized former nursing home in Kittery for potential redevelopment along a busy stretch of US Route 1. As part of the assessment, TRC completed Phase I ESAs and a QAPPs/Phase II ESAs/HBMS to assist the developer in understanding potential costs and needs of the site. TRC worked with the developer and SMPDC to apply for the VRAP. Following assessment and remediation, the developer was left with a clean site and moved forward with commercial and residential redevelopment.