EPA Administrator Announces $76 Million to Clean Up Contaminated Sites and Revitalize Communities / EPA brownfields investments protect health and environment, create jobs and...
LANSING -
Today in Lansing, Michigan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced more than $76 million in
new investments across the country that will redevelop contaminated
properties, boost local economies and help create jobs while
protecting public health. 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 cleanup 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.
"Revitalizing our communities is vital to our health and the
health of our local economies," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
said. "The grants we're awarding to communities across America will
support projects that will help create thousands of jobs and make
our communities cleaner, healthier and more prosperous places to
raise a family and start a business. They're part of our overall
effort to clean up communities and put our nation on the path to a
sustainable future."
Administrator Jackson announced that seven communities in Michigan
this year will receive a total of $2.9 million. Mayor Virg Bernero
of Lansing and other federal, state and local officials joined
Administrator Jackson at the event in Lansing.
“For a struggling auto community at the epicenter of the
national economic crisis, we depend on the power of brownfields
funding to energize Lansing’s local economy and create jobs,"
said Mayor Virg Bernero. "With the help of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, who played a key role in an extraordinary
public-private partnership, we have transformed an old, abandoned
power plant on our downtown riverfront into a new engine of
prosperity and job growth for Michigan. More than 1,500 people
spent 800,000 work-hours to complete this massive project, and
another thousand permanent jobs will be retained and created in
Lansing over the next few years. With the additional funds
announced today, we will be able to replicate this success and put
even more of our citizens back to work.”
EPA issued 214 grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving
Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants programs that will go to 40 states
and three tribes across the country.
Highlights of the projects planned by grant recipients
include:
· The
Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee will use cleanup
grant funding to transform a former contaminated property into a
modern business park with residential and retail amenities,
creating more than 800 jobs.
· Springfield,
Missouri will use cleanup grant funding to transform a vacant,
contaminated former rail yard into a natural wetland open space
with greenway trails. This project will leverage more than $6
million in cleanup and redevelopment funding.
· Nassau
County, N.Y. will use funds to cleanup waterfront property and pave
the way for a new hotel complex, affordable housing units, a
waterfront park, restaurant and retail space, and the county's
first commuter ferry. The redevelopment will result in the creation
of more than 7,700 new jobs.
· The Illinois
EPA will issue a loan to the United Neighborhood Organization
(UNO), a Chicago Hispanic community-based organization that builds
and operates charter schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods. UNO
plans to remediate a former industrial property and build an energy
efficient elementary school for 575 students.
In 2002, the brownfields law expanded the
definition of what is considered a brownfield, so communities may
now focus on mine-scarred lands, sites contaminated by petroleum,
or sites contaminated as a result of manufacturing and distribution
of illegal drugs (e.g. meth labs).
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