EPA Invests $400,000 in Fredericksburg for Browfields Cleanup (VA)
PHILADELPHIA (June 6, 2011) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced
today its investment of $400,000 to help the city of
Fredericksburg, Va. assess the potential cleanup and rehabilitation
of abandoned industrial properties.
“Brownfields initiatives demonstrate how
environmental protection and economic development work
hand-in-hand,” said Shawn M. Garvin, regional administrator
for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. “Along with generating
jobs, this funding will help Fredericksburg reclaim properties that
have been unused for years and turn them into assets for the
community, the environment, and the economy.”
EPA’s funding to Fredericksburg –
consisting of two grants for $200,000 each – will be used to
assess abandoned industrial properties that were once used for
ammunition manufacturing, iron forging, and industrial factories.
Suspected contaminants at these sites may threaten the health of
residents, the city’s water supply, and natural habitats. The
brownfields assessments are expected to facilitate the city’s
plan to connect the Rappahannock River to greenspace, parks, and
trails.
EPA’s brownfields program encourages
cleanup and redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000
brownfields sites. Brownfields grants help to assess, clean and
redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields.
Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may
be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Grant recipients are selected
through a national competition.
Since the beginning of the program in 1995, EPA
has invested 1,895 assessment grants totaling over $447.6 million,
279 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $273.1 million,
and 752 cleanup grants totaling $140.8 million. Additional
information on the EPA brownfields program is available at
https://www.epa.gov/brownfields and additional information on brownfields assessment
grant recipients is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfieldsassessment_grants.htm
.