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Dallas/Fort Worth Area to Receive $800,000 in EPA Brownfield Grants

Release Date: 6/15/2004
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

      The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth and an area nonprofit group will receive grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to facilitate redevelopment of former abandoned properties, EPA announced today.   The grants are part of a nationwide selection of 219 applicants sharing more than $75 million in EPA Brownfields grants.  The Brownfields program helps support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup activities, and job training.

      "These federal grants are awarded under the Brownfields Act signed by President Bush in January 2002.  The landmark legislation continues to help local and state leaders throughout the country in their efforts to revitalize abandoned properties," EPA Regional Administrator  Richard E. Greene said.  "The importance of making these properties available to the community, providing jobs, needed tax revenues and recreational benefits that were not there before is a priority for us as we work towards our goal to recycle and renew polluted land."

      The city of Dallas will receive a $200,000 assessment grant.  The city plans to assess several properties, including a site in the Cadillac Heights neighborhood for a planned Dallas Police Academy and expansion of the Grand Plaza shopping center in south Dallas.  Dallas is a leader in Brownfields assessment and redevelopment.  It was one of the original 29 Brownfield Pilots nationwide, is a Showcase Community, and has received two Phoenix Awards, the Brownfields program's highest award.

      The city of Fort Worth will receive two $200,000 grants: one for assessment of hazardous substances and one for assessment of petroleum substances.  The city will use the grants for community-wide assessments of over 300 potential candidates for redevelopment, building on its successful "Bust a Brownfields" program, which encourages community participation in identifying neighborhood sites.  The city is currently working to complete its assessment, cleanup and revitalization of the historically African-American Evans and Rosedale district in south  Fort Worth.  
      The Fort Worth Opportunity Center will receive a $200,000 cleanup grant, with which it plans to clean subsurface contamination found at one of the two buildings the center owns and is renovating.  The building will be used to expand the center's job skills training programs and increase revenue. The center works with local business partners to develop curriculums to teach required skills for in-demand jobs.

      Assessment grants are used to provide funding for property inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.  Brownfields cleanup grants provide direct funding for cleanup activities at eligible sites contaminated with hazardous substances or petroleum.

      EPA's Brownfields program also provides funding to assist states and tribes in developing area-wide Voluntary Cleanup Programs.  These programs provide states, tribes, municipalities and communities useful information and strategies to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties.

      In March 2004, 16 communities received job training grants totaling $2.47 million to teach environmental cleanup job skills to 1,080 individuals living near Brownfields sites.  

      More information about EPA's Brownfields program and grants awarded nationwide is available at www.epa.gov/brownfields.  More information about EPA's goals is available at http://epa.gov/adminweb/leavitt/500dayplan.htm.

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