U.S. General Services Administration
Region One Awarded EPA Excellence in Site Reuse Award
On October 11, 2023 Region One’s Office of Real Property Disposition was honored with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2023 National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Award for the Middlesex, NJ Sampling Plant project.
The award recognizes the accomplishments of federal agencies, states, tribes, local partners, and developers that restore and reuse certain land at federal facilities by working cooperatively with the EPA for redevelopment.
The GSA project was selected for the award due to the positive local community impacts including job creation, tax revenue, benefits of public works and business development, as well as strong partnership between the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Department of Energy (DOE), EPA, GSA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Borough of Middlesex, and Claremont Development.
The 9.6 acre former sampling plant was part of the nation’s early atomic energy program. The property was reported excess to GSA in July of 2021 and the Region One Office of Real Property Disposition began the process of screening the property for other federal needs. The screening received no interest from other federal entities and GSA determined the site to be surplus.
After the Borough of Middlesex expressed interest in, and successfully applied to acquire the site for emergency management purposes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), GSA will be able to deed the property to them at no cost under the emergency management public benefit conveyance authority.
Regional Administrator Francis A. Thomas was on hand to accept the award.
“I’m excited for the implementation of the Borough's vision for the redevelopment of this property, which will benefit the community,” stated Thomas. “This project is a perfect example of what can be done when federal agencies, local governments, and business groups partner for success.”
The New England Region Office of Real Property Disposition would like to acknowledge the significant contributions of Realty Specialist, Anthony Barbati, who handled the project from start to finish.