(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing $400,000 to Neptune Township, New Jersey, to assess abandoned and contaminated properties. The funding was awarded through the EPA's Brownfields program, which helps communities assess, clean up and reuse contaminated properties. Brownfields are properties with moderate contamination which can threaten environmental quality and public health and can interfere with redevelopment.

"Local governments need help in dealing with abandoned properties that may contain toxic substances and which often lead to neighborhood blight," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. "This EPA funding will support work already being done in Neptune, New Jersey, to clean up and revitalize properties so they are community assets and not eyesores."

Neptune will use a $200,000 community-wide hazardous substance assessment grant and a $200,000 community-wide petroleum assessment grant to determine the nature and extent of environmental contamination at at least 11 sites throughout the township. These assessments will support redevelopment in vacant land, including sites included in the West Lake Avenue Redevelopment Plan. The funds will also be used to determine the public health and environmental impacts of these sites, and to support community outreach activities.

Since the inception of the EPA's Brownfields program in 1995, cumulative brownfield program investments have leveraged more than $21 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of nearly $18 leveraged for every EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in creating approximately 93,000 jobs nationwide. These projects demonstrate the positive impact a small investment of federal brownfields funding can have on community revitalization through leveraging jobs, producing clean energy, and providing recreation opportunities for surrounding neighborhoods. The EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and others to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.

Additional information on EPA Brownfields activities is available at http://epa.gov/brownfields.

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