WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said today that over $2.3 million in federal funding will be invested in Maine to clean up polluted industrial sites from Berwick to Lubec.

"This is one of the smartest investments we can make in our local economies," Pingree said in a news release. "Cleaning up a polluted site takes a piece of property that has been a liability for a community and turns it into a potential location for new economic development. It's good for the environment, it's good for the economy and it's good for these communities."

The grants are from the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grant program.

One of the biggest investments will be to clean up contamination at the former Prime Tanning facility in Berwick. The Town of Berwick has been awarded three grants totaling $600,000 for cleanup of the facility, which is contaminated with chemicals from over 100 years of use as an industrial facility.

Rockland is getting $400,000 to assess cleanup needs city-wide, and the Portland Harbor Commission is getting $350,000 to investigate contamination on the seabed floor in the shipping channel that runs along the city's waterfront.

Additional grants in Maine include $400,000 for Androscoggin County, $400,000 in Lubec and $200,000 for the Penobscot Indian Nation.