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EPA: $2.2 Million in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup, Economic Development in Texas

Release Date: 05/08/2009
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Anthony Suttice at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Dallas, Texas – May 8, 2009) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today the availability of an estimated $2.2 million in grants bolstered by funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help communities in Texas clean up sites known as “brownfields” which may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants. The grants, which include $432,200 from the Recovery Act and $1.86 million from the EPA brownfields general program funding, help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use.

“Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near brownfields communities,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “A revitalized brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, creates green jobs, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

“EPA and the Recovery Act are putting people and property back to work in Texas,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Lawrence E. Starfield. “This funding will help communities turn current brownfields into future resources.”

Applicants selected to receive Recovery Act funds are:
· City of Corpus Christi - $400,000, assessment, to conduct environmental site assessments, identify cleanup options, and support community outreach activities in the city’s north side and in the neighboring downtown area, and;
· Throckmorton County - $32,200, cleanup, for the former Throckmorton Service Station at 101 W. Chestnut Street in Throckmorton.

Applicants selected to receive brownfields general program funds are:
· Ark-Tex Council of Governments - $400,000, assessment, to conduct environmental site assessments, inventory and characterize sites, conduct cleanup planning, and support community outreach activities;
· City of Bryan - $200,000, cleanup, for Block 106, a 37,500-square-foot city block, in the North Downtown area;
· City of Denton - $63,000, cleanup, for the Transit Park site at 121 Exposition Street;
· City of Fort Worth - $400,000, assessment, to conduct environmental site assessments for hazardous substances and petroleum contamination, develop a database of institutional controls and historical contamination within the city, and support community outreach activities;
· City of Lewisville - $400,000, assessment, to inventory brownfields, conduct environmental site assessments, identify potential cleanup approaches and support community outreach activities;
· City of Paris - $200,000, cleanup, for the Grand Theater site in the downtown area; and
· City of Waco - $200,000, cleanup, for the former Southwest Spraying and Chemical Company site at 901 Peach Street.

The grants will help to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.

More information on brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund pilots and grants and other brownfields activities under the Recovery Act: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm .

Additional information on the EPA Region 6 brownfields recipients and their projects is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm .