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U.S. EPA Awards Funds for Local Brownfields in Northern California

Release Date: 6/20/2003
Contact Information: Lisa Fasano, (415) 947-4307

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that 12  northern California communities will receive grants totaling nearly $3.5 million from the agency to promote redevelopment of Brownfields sites   places where environmental contamination or the perception of it has complicated or thwarted redevelopment opportunities.
     These grants are among the first to be awarded under the Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act signed into law in January 2002.  The act authorizes up to $250 million per year for Brownfields grants, including up to $50 million for the assessment and cleanup of low-risk petroleum contaminated sites.
    Those receiving grants in northern California will be the Capital Area Redevelopment Authority in Sacramento; the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency; East Bay Habitat for Humanity in Oakland; the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART); the cities of Oakley, West Sacramento, Eureka, East Palo Alto, Emeryville, Oakland and Richmond; and Madera County.
    "These grants will help turn neighborhood eyesores into community assets, restoring hope and creating opportunity for the people who live nearby," said EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said. "From the signing by President Bush of landmark Brownfields legislation last year, to the more than doubling of funds made available for Brownfields reclamation, this Administration has proven its commitment to the environmental cleanup and economic revitalization of our nation's communities."
    "The Brownfields Act recognizes that cleanup money is needed to help restore abandoned properties back into productive use by providing local jobs, needed tax revenues and recreational benefits that have been lost,"  said Wayne Nastri, the EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest region. "These grants represent a committed partnership between federal government and community interests to work together to make these sites whole again."
    The grants are as follows:
         The Capital Area Development Authority will receive $400,000 to remove hazardous      substances from the CADA Warehouse site in the R Street Corridor and the Fremont      Community Garden site in Freemont Park in the historic state capitol area;
         The Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency will receive $100,000 to assess      hazardous substances and petroleum waste contamination along the Rodeo waterfront;
         Habitat for Humanity in Oakland will receive $200,000 to remove hazardous substances      from a former truck dismantling and salvage yard at 10900 Edes Ave. in the Sobrantes      neighborhood of the city prior to constructing new homes at the site;
          BART will receive $200,000 to remove petroleum waste from the 4-acre Fruitvale      Transit Village site in the 3500 and 3600 blocks of East 12th Street  in Oakland;
         Oakley will receive $200,000 for pollution assessment in three downtown areas of the      city;
         West Sacramento will receive $200,000 for pollution assessment in the West Capitol      Avenue Corridor;
         Eureka will receive $200,000 for the cleanup of petroleum contamination in the former      foundry area of the Old Carson Mill site;
         East Palo Alto will receive $400,000 for assessment of petroleum and hazardous      substance contamination in the Bay-Clarke Project area;
         Emeryville will receive $550,000 to conduct environmental assessments at several      potentially petroleum contaminated sites in the city;
         Oakland will receive $200,000 for pollution assessment at the 3-block Uptown Area site,      which is between 18th Street, Thomas L. Berkley Way, Telegraph Avenue and San Pablo      Avenue;
          Richmond will receive $350,000 for pollution assessment along the city's southern      waterfront;
         Madera County will receive $199,555 for pollution assessment at a former timber mill in      North Fork.
    The money going to northern California is part of  $73.1 million being awarded nationally that will fund 117 Brownfield assessment grants totaling $30.7 million, 69 cleanup grants totaling $12 million and 28 revolving loan fund grants totaling $30.4 million.
    In the Pacific Southwest Region of the EPA, $7.9 million is being awarded in California, Nevada and Arizona. Since the Brownfields program began in 1995, $32.9 million in grants have been awarded regionally.
   
More information about EPA's Brownfields program is available at: https://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/index.html
Also visit:
https://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/
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