FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 22, 2025
Contact:
Ricardo Rodiguez
Brownfields Program Director
Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments
203-982-0797
Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank Secures Grant to Characterize Long-Standing Vacant Site in Newtown
(Waterbury, CT) The Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank, Inc. (CTBLB) has been awarded $200,000 through the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development’s (DECD) Brownfield Remediation and Development Program for the assessment of the 33.4-acre site of the former Charles Batchelder Co., an aluminum smelting plant, located at 44 and 46a Swamp Road.
Funds will be used to close data gaps in the two parcels, enabling a full characterization of the extent of contamination present. Data collected will be used to further the town’s plans to use the site for a solar field and/or new industrial/commercial space.
“This award represents a critical step toward transforming a once-challenged property into a productive asset for the community,” said Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank President Rick Dunne. “We are excited to help the Town of Newtown with this project, moving closer to its vision for a site that can attract investment, create jobs, and support long-term sustainability.”
The CTBLB is dedicated to facilitating the remediation and redevelopment of brownfield sites throughout Connecticut. By working with municipalities, developers, and environmental experts, CTBLB helps transform contaminated properties into valuable assets, creating economic opportunities and improving quality of life for local communities.
Newtown First Selectman Bruce Walczak observed that just because the Batchelder property has been out of sight to most taxpayers, its cleanup and productive reuse has been on the mind of numerous administrations because of its potential for generating tax revenue or providing a site for local energy generation projects that also benefit the community.
“It looks like 2026 will be the year we finally turn the corner and begin the effort toward returning this abandoned Batchelder industrial site to productive use,” Walczak said. “By applying this grant – which will be managed by the nonprofit Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank – Newtown will be positioned to move to the next step – which is cleanup and reuse.”
“I want to thank Governor Ned Lamont, the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, and Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank for their vision and collaboration on accomplishing this on behalf of our entire community,” Walczak added.
Newtown Economic and Community Development Director John Voket said this assessment grant represents the latest positive benefit Newtown and its taxpayers are realizing thanks to an ongoing relationship with Dunne and his team at the Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank and Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments.
“This also marks Newtown’s first successful partnership with the Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank,” Voket said. “One of my top tasks in Newtown is working to get long dormant but viable town-owned properties assessed, remediated, and back on the tax rolls. And thanks to this grant, the community’s largest brownfield site is on track to be cleaned up and productively utilized again in the foreseeable future.”
The grants announced are part of a larger effort by the Lamont administration to promote economic development, environmental sustainability, and housing growth throughout Connecticut. In total, this round of grants is projected to leverage more than $354 million in private investments and lead to the creation of approximately 835 housing units, including 157 designated as affordable.
For more information on the Connecticut Brownfield Land Bank, Inc. and its projects, please visit ctblb.org.