EPA invests $4.3M to boost the revitalization of properties in Montana communities (MT)
Brownfields funds to help assess, clean up
and revitalize properties throughout Montana
(Denver, Colorado – June 6, 2011) The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency today awarded $4.35 million in
Brownfields grants to five organizations throughout Montana. These
resources will be used by communities and nonprofit organizations
to advance locally defined plans for property assessment, cleanup
and redevelopment projects. Today’s awards in Montana are
among 214 Brownfields grants totaling $76M that EPA is providing in
40 states and three tribes across the country.
“These resources will support dozens of assessment and cleanup projects in communities across Montana,” said Dan Heffernan, EPA’s Brownfields coordinator in Denver. “These projects are investments that will create hundreds of jobs and help communities transform blighted properties into assets ranging from new housing and business opportunities to parks and trails.”
The City of Kalispell, Mont.,
will receive a Brownfields revolving loan fund
grant in the amount of $1 million. The grant will be used to
capitalize a loan fund from which the City of Kalispell will
provide resources to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous
substances and petroleum. The city anticipates funding up to five
projects to advance a revitalization plan that includes
redevelopment along abandoned railroad tracks, a park and trail
system, affordable housing, and new businesses.
Contact: 406-758-7713
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
of the Flathead Nation, with offices in Pablo,
Mont., will receive a Brownfields
cleanup grant in the amount of $200,000 to clean up 2,500 cubic
yards of petroleum-contaminated soil at the nine-acre Joseph
Allotment, along US Highway 93 in Elmo, Mont. The site was
contaminated when petroleum was released from the former Elmo Cash
Store, located adjacent to the Joseph Allotment. Cleanup of this
site will reduce threats of exposure to petroleum and will allow
the Tribe to construct much needed housing and support jobs and
economic development in the community. Contact:
406-883-2888
Bear Paw Development Corporation of Northern
Montana, with offices in Havre, Mont., will receive Brownfields grants totaling $1.4 million.
Bear Paw will use a $400,000 assessment grant to fund site
assessments and cleanup plans for properties in Hill, Chouteau,
Blaine, Liberty, and Phillips Counties, along with the Rocky
Boy’s Indian Reservation. An additional Brownfields revolving
loan fund grant totaling $1 million will be used to address sites
contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. Contact:
406-265-9226
Northern Rocky Mountain Resource Conservation
& Development Area, Inc., with offices in Bozeman,
Mont., will receive a Brownfields
assessment coalition grant in the amount of $1 million. The
coalition includes 10 counties in central Montana, including
Gallatin, Park, Judith Basin, Fergus, Golden Valley, Musselshell,
Petroleum, Wheatland, Broadwater and Meagher Counties. Grant funds
will be used to perform more than 40 environmental site assessments
and develop site cleanup plans. One such site is an abandoned
landfill in Three Forks, Mont., which sits near the headwaters of
the Missouri River and will be assessed for redevelopment as a
community park. Contact: 406-582-5700
Great Northern Development Corporation, with
offices in Wolf Point, Mont., will
receive a Brownfields assessment coalition grant in the amount of
$750,000. The coalition partners include the Eastern Plains
Economic Development Corporation, Inc., Southeastern Montana
Development Corporation, Fort Peck Tribal Office of Environmental
Protection, and the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. The combined project
area covers 15 counties in eastern Montana. EPA grant funds will be
used to perform more than 20 environmental site assessments and
develop site cleanup plans. This region contains hundreds of
abandoned properties, with many sites impacted by leaking
underground storage tanks. Grants will allow sites to be
redeveloped for future use, such as the abandoned GTA Feed Plant in
Glendive, Mont., which community groups hope to transform into a
farmers market, restaurant, and micro- brewery. Contact:
406-653-2590
EPA’s brownfields grants are used to
assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties
like deserted gas stations or closed smelters. There are an
estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in
America. These investments help leverage redevelopment, promote
economic growth and lead to job creation.
Since its inception, EPA’s brownfields
investments have leveraged more than $16.3 billion in clean up and
redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources
and have resulted in approximately 70,000 jobs. Brownfields grants
also target under-served and economically disadvantaged
neighborhoods – places where environmental cleanups and new
jobs are most needed.
More information on the FY2011 grant recipients
by state: https://www.epa.gov/brownfieldspilot_grants.htm
More information on EPA’s brownfields program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields
More information on brownfields success stories: https://www.epa.gov/brownfieldssuccess/index.htm