News Releases from Region 07

Panhandle Area Development District Selected for $445,400 EPA Brownfields Grant to Revitalize Industrial Sites, Leverage Jobs, Promote Economic Redevelopment in Northwest Nebraska

05/31/2017

Contact Information:

National - Christie St. Clair (stclair.christie@epa.gov)

202-564-2880

Region 7 - Ashley Murdie (murdie.ashley@epa.gov)

913-551-7785

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., May 31, 2017) - Today, the Panhandle Area Development District (PADD) was selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to receive $445,400 for brownfield site revitalization efforts in northwest Nebraska communities. The funding will support brownfield site assessments, as an initial step toward redeveloping vacant and unused properties, transforming them to productive reuse that will benefit the communities and their local economies.

“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 northwest Nebraska communities supported by PADD are part of 172 communities across the country selected to receive a portion of approximately $56.8 million in Assessment and Cleanup Grant funds to work on sites within their community. Approximately $17.5 million of the assessment and cleanup funding announced will benefit small and rural communities with populations less than 10,000. Approximately $25 million will go to communities who are receiving assessment and cleanup funding for the first time. These funds will provide communities with resources necessary to determine the extent of site contamination, remove environmental uncertainties, and clean up contaminated properties where needed.

Addressing and cleaning up brownfield sites across the nation will ultimately boost local economies and leverage redevelopment jobs, while protecting public health and the environment. Brownfield sites are community assets because of their locations and associated infrastructure advantages. Studies have shown that residential property values near brownfield sites that are cleaned up increased between 5 and 15.2 percent. The studies also determined that brownfield cleanups can increase overall property values within 1.24 miles. A study analyzing data near 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 that EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. As of May 2017, more than 124,759 jobs and $24 billion of public and private funding has been leveraged as a result of assessment grants and other EPA Brownfields grants. On average, $16.11 was leveraged for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 8.5 jobs leveraged per $100,000 of EPA Brownfields funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.