A contaminated former gasoline station and Quick Mart in Yankee Springs Township will be returned to productive use with help from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). A $175,000 grant was awarded to Barry County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to protect public health and safety and revitalize the former Cappon’s Quick Mart located on 11312 West M-179 Highway.
Soil and groundwater at the property were contaminated by a leaking underground gasoline storage tank. Environmental work was done by a liable party, but some contamination still remains. The brownfield grant will be used to address remaining contamination and make the site safe for reuse.
An established local business, Stickmann Baeckerei, will expand its growing commercial and retail bakery and build a new café on the former Quick Mart site. The existing German-style bakery, next door to the former Quick Mart, may be turned into a full service restaurant. The $500,000 redevelopment will create five to six new jobs, and result in an even more significant draw to western Barry County.
The Barry County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority was reestablished in late 2017, after 10 years of inactivity, to assist with this project and with hopes that this project will spark an interest for more redevelopment projects within Barry County.
The MDEQ partners with communities to protect public health and the environment and revitalize contaminated property. MDEQ grants and loans pay for environmental investigation and cleanup on brownfields. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination.
Partnerships between MDEQ and communities have created $4 billion in private investment and 29,000 new jobs over the life of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program. Each grant and loan dollar invested by the MDEQ in 2017 to protect residents and the environment is expected to return an average of $32 to the state’s economy. When brownfields are redeveloped, property values increase both on the revitalized site and on other nearby properties. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields.