EPA Regional Administrator Tours Former Tannery Site in Peabody Recently Selected for $4 Million Brownfields Cleanup Grant
BOSTON (June 17, 2025) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Mark Sanborn joined Mayor Edward Bettencourt, city councilors, and local officials to tour the former Bob-Kat Tanning site, a 0.7-acre property in downtown Peabody recently selected to receive a $4 million Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Staff from the offices of U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and U.S. Representative Seth Moulton were also in attendance. This grant will support environmental remediation and community engagement activities at the long-vacant site, which operated as a tannery for over 200 years and is contaminated with a range of hazardous substances.
"Together with our federal, state, and local partners, we're helping Peabody unlock new opportunities for community and economic revitalization," said EPA Regional Administrator Mark Sanborn. "This Brownfields grant reflects our commitment to delivering on EPA's statutory mission through cooperative federalism and common-sense investments."
"EPA's Brownfields program is a commonsense commitment to clean air, clean water, and clean land for all. I am pleased to see EPA Region 1's investment to clean up brownfield sites in Massachusetts—a win-win for the health and wealth of communities in our state and across the country," said U.S. Senator Edward Markey. "These smart reinvestments help communities from Boston to the Berkshires and from New Bedford to the Merrimack Valley transform toxic eyesores into community assets, spurring job creation and economic activity. Revitalizing underutilized and polluted lands in communities that have been left to deal with abandoned toxic waste is a challenge that deserves bipartisan solutions, which is why I worked to reauthorize the Brownfields program in 2015-2018 and fought to secure these federal funds in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law."
"With support from the EPA, we are transforming our downtown into a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable community center. We are revitalizing our economy while restoring our environment. This partnership enables us to build a healthy lasting future that will serve future generations," said Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt, Jr., City of Peabody.
The cleanup of the Bob-Kat site builds on Peabody's strong track record of leveraging federal resources to address contamination and spark community revitalization. Peabody has received multiple Brownfields grants in recent years, including:
- $650,000 to clean up the Clark Steel Drum site;
- $300,000 for environmental assessments and planning in the North River Corridor, an area with a rich industrial history and major potential for redevelopment;
- Participation in a Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) partnership with the City of Salem that includes plans to redevelop the former L. Fine Building in Peabody into resilient senior housing and commercial space.
The City's broader vision includes development of a future Riverwalk in the North River Corridor, an area historically affected by tannery operations but poised for transformation into a vibrant, connected district that benefits residents and businesses alike.
Background
EPA's Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nationally nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. For more information about EPA's Brownfields Program, visit: www.epa.gov/brownfields.
More information
EPA Announces $13 Million in Brownfields Grants to Cleanup Communities Across Massachusetts