News Releases from Region 08
Denver-area cleanup and revitalization projects receive $1 million in EPA Brownfields funding (Denver, Northglenn, Adams County)
EPA grants to City and County of Denver, the City of Northglenn, and Adams County will support several urban renewal and riverfront revitalization projects, funds part of $54 million to clean up Brownfields sites across the country
(Denver, Colo. - May 28, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today awarded $1 million in Brownfields assessment funds to three grant recipients to expand local efforts to assess, clean up and redevelop properties throughout the Denver area. The City and County of Denver and the City of Northglenn will each receive $400K and Adams County will receive $200K.
Today's announcement is among 243 EPA grant investments totaling $54.3 million to 147 communities across the U.S. These grants will provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.
City and County of Denver: $400K Brownfields Assessment grants
The City and County of Denver will use EPA Brownfields grant funds to conduct environmental assessments along the South Platte River corridor and create new redevelopment opportunities that connect with projects underway throughout the area. Specifically, the City will conduct critical assessments at approximately 12 brownfield sites as part of the South Platte RiverPlace Initiative. These assessments will complement efforts to revitalize properties in environmental justice communities near the National Western Stock Show Complex in north Denver and at properties near the Denver Housing Authority's mixed use, transit-oriented development project in the Sun Valley neighborhood. Both areas have a history of intensive industrial and commercial activity-including rail facilities, power plants, industrial cleaners, gas stations and auto service facilities, and manufacturing plants-and contain vacant buildings in need of reinvestment, repair or demolition. The City's efforts to redevelop these areas include plans to create new housing, community jobs and public access to the South Platte River.
City of Northglenn: $400K Brownfields Assessment grants
The City of Northglenn will use EPA grant funds to support the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of several properties along the West 104th commercial district. Potential targets include vacant and partially vacant commercial structures in need of cleanup and redevelopment, including the Huron Center and Northglenn Marketplace. Potential environmental concerns at these and other properties include water drainage and flooding issues and potential contamination associated with former dry cleaners and auto service facilities. The rehabilitation of these properties will create new business opportunities and restore jobs and tax revenues in the targeted area.
Adams County: $200K Brownfields Assessment grant
Adams County will use EPA grant funds to assess contamination in an industrial area along a two-mile corridor of Clear Creek Valley bordered by Huron St. to the east, and the banks of Clear Creek to the north and west. Interstate 76 cuts through the area, with properties on both the north and south side of this corridor. The area is characterized by large swaths of blighted abandoned or underutilized properties that have impacted the Berkeley, Guardian Angel and Goat Hill neighborhoods, and are the legacy of decades of use for aggregate mining and industrial activity or as former landfills. Because of these historical uses, the land is perceived as contaminated, which has served as a deterrent to development. The assessment of these properties will identify cleanup needs and redevelopment opportunities to connect the creek to adjacent neighborhoods and new transportation corridors.
"EPA Brownfields grants continue to help communities in the Denver area transform blighted properties into public and economic assets," said EPA regional administrator, Shaun McGrath. "These investments are removing contamination, reconnecting neighborhoods with riverfront areas, and creating new opportunities for people to live, play, and do business."
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the United States. EPA's Brownfields program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse these brownfields sites. Since the inception of the program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments have leveraged more than $22 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 105,942 jobs nationwide.
More information on Brownfields grants by state: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/
More Brownfields information:
Program http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Success Stories http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm