News Releases from Region 02
EPA Provides $200,000 to Clean Up and Revitalize Contaminated Property in Queens, New York
(New York, N.Y. – July 12, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing $200,000 to the City of New York to clean up an abandoned and contaminated property that will be operated as a health center to expand access to the medically underserved in Flushing, Queens. Once completed, this facility is expected to result in 143 permanent jobs. This funding is being awarded under the EPA’s brownfields program, which helps communities assess, clean up, redevelop and reuse properties at which moderate contamination threatens environmental quality and public health and can interfere with redevelopment.
“Cleaning up brownfields sites allows abandoned and contaminated sites to be put to good use as parks, new housing and businesses,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “This funding will help create jobs while protecting the health of area residents and improving the environment."
Revolving loan funds supply money for grant recipients to provide loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When these loans are repaid, the loan amounts are then returned into the fund and re-loaned to other borrowers. This provides an ongoing source of money as the funds are redistributed to other parties.
The funding being announced today will be used for the cleanup of a site at 131-66 40th Road and 40-42 College Point Boulevard in Queens. Once remediated, the site will be developed into an eight story 77,460 square foot facility.
There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites in the U.S. Since the inception of the EPA’s Brownfields program in 1995, cumulative investments have leveraged nearly $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. These investments have resulted in nearly 109,000 jobs nationwide. A recent study shows that residential property values increased 5-15 percent near brownfield sites when cleanups were completed. Preliminary analysis of 48 brownfield sites shows that an estimated $29 to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million the EPA contributed to the cleanup of those sites.
Information on grant recipients can be found at: http://epa.gov/brownfields.
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