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Lake County (Colo.) receives $400K to clean up and redevelop contaminated sites

Release Date: 06/11/2014
Contact Information: Danny Heffernan, U.S. EPA, 303-312-7074; Richard Mylott, U.S. EPA, 303-312-6654; Bruce Hix, Lake County Board of Commissioners, 719-486-4100

EPA Brownfields grant to help establish program to redevelop properties and leverage economic investment

(Denver, Colo. – May 28, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Lake County, Colorado will receive a $400K Brownfields assessment grant to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties in targeted redevelopment areas in Leadville and the county.

The EPA Brownfields funds will be used by Lake County to conduct more than a dozen environmental site assessments in downtown Leadville, along the U.S. 24 highway corridor, the Lake County Airport and Business Park, and in a redevelopment area along County Road 36. Grant funds also will be used to inventory brownfields properties throughout the county and to conduct community outreach activities. The assessments will focus on sites with potential contaminants associated with hazardous wastes and petroleum compounds.

Lake County is among 171 communities nationwide receiving 264 grants totaling $67 million in brownfields funding to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment. The 2014 Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (ARC) grants will give communities and businesses a chance to return economic stability to under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods through the assessment and clean-up of abandoned industrial and commercial properties, places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

“EPA Brownfields funds continue to help Colorado communities get blighted and contaminated sites back into productive use," said Shaun McGrath, EPA’s regional administrator in Denver. “These projects will create new community assets and leverage investments that create jobs and opportunities.”

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 $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in 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. EPA’s Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.

More information on brownfields grants by state: https://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/

More information on EPA’s brownfields:

Program https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Success Stories https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm
Benefits https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview/Brownfields-Benefits-postcard.pdf