News Releases from Region 10
City of Bremerton Selected for $300,000 in Brownfields Assessment Grants
Program helps return blighted properties to productive reuse
EPA has selected the City of Bremerton for two brownfields environmental site assessment grants totaling $300,000. With this funding, Bremerton will conduct up to fourteen brownfield site assessments as an initial step towards cleaning up and redeveloping vacant and underutilized properties, transforming them into an asset for both the community and the local economy while protecting public health and the environment.
“EPA is committed to working with communities to redevelop Brownfields sites which have plagued their neighborhoods. EPA’s Assessment and Cleanup grants target communities that are economically disadvantaged and include places where environmental cleanup and new jobs are most needed," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "These grants leverage considerable infrastructure and other investments, improving local economies and creating an environment where jobs can grow. I am very pleased the President’s budget recognizes the importance of these grants by providing continued funding for this important program.”
The City of Bremerton’s grant funding will include $150,000 to assess sites contaminated with hazardous substances, and $150,000 for sites contaminated with petroleum. Grant funds will also be used to support community involvement activities, maintain and update a brownfields site inventory, and conduct area wide planning activities.
“The City is extremely pleased that our community was selected to receive Brownfields Assessment Grant funding from the EPA,” said Bremerton Mayor Patty Lent. “This grant will allow our community to redevelop areas that would have otherwise been impossible and encourage private investment that will result in the revitalization of our city. We believe that this funding will facilitate private property sales and new construction in some of our most blighted neighborhoods which will help make our community an even healthier place to live work and play.”
Following the end of WWII, Bremerton went from a busy city of military operations to a hollow city with miles of abandoned commercial, industrial and business districts along its corridors. While Bremerton has been successful in revitalization planning efforts, lack of capital resources has severely hindered the City's ability to create shovel-ready sites and bring community visions to life. The brownfields grant funding will aid Bremerton's ability to attract new employers, strengthen existing businesses, create jobs and generate new tax and utility revenues.
In 2015, the Bremerton City Council designated a portion of the downtown area a ''blight zone." Investors repeatedly express interest in redeveloping this area but are deterred upon learning of potential environmental issues. The EPA Brownfields Assessment Grants will provide funding for the city to address questionable site contamination aiding eventual redevelopment for mixed residential and commercial use.
Brownfields assessment and cleanup grants target communities with significant distress. These communities are economically disadvantaged -- neighborhoods where environmental assessment, cleanup and new jobs are most needed for residents that have historically been left behind.
Bremerton is one of 172 communities selected nationally for new brownfields assessment and cleanup funding in 2017. Across the country, $56.8 million in funding will be granted.
For more information about Brownfields Cleanup and Assessment Grants: www.epa.gov/brownfields
To view fact sheets about the 2017 grant recipients: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-list-fy17-grants-selected-funding