Keating Announces EPA Grant For New Bedford

New Bedford will receive $200,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Congressman William Keating made the announcement Friday saying the money comes from a Brownfields Area-Wide planning grants.

The funds will be put towards recreational space and attracting economic redevelopment in New Bedford.

Keating's office says the city is anticipating that the redeveloped areas will be linked to the planned South Coast Rail system.

Mayor Jon Mitchell welcomed the news and highlighted the former Payne Cutlery site, and the surrounding neighborhoods, as an area that would benefit from the grants.

“It has been a long-standing priority of the City’s to return this brownfield site to productive economic use," said Mitchell, "and the new EPA funds will significantly advance our efforts."

The Area-Wide Planning Grants Program is a part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an inter-agency collaboration between the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, and the EPA.