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EPA Awards $4 Million For Brownfields

Release Date: 10/15/2010
Contact Information: Jayna Legg, 312-353-0562, legg.jayna@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 10-OPA128

CHICAGO (Oct. 15, 2010) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $4 million in assistance to 23 communities, many in under-served and economically disadvantaged areas, to develop area-wide plans for the reuse of brownfields properties. Goshen, Ind., is among the recipients.

Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response announced the grants today at an event in Cleveland, Ohio, along with Shaun Donovan, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The plans will integrate site cleanup and reuse, laying the foundation for addressing community needs such as economic development, job creation, housing, recreation, and education and health facilities. Brownfields are properties where the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants may complicate the properties’ expansion, redevelopment, or reuse.

"This area-wide approach recognizes that revitalization of the communities impacted by multiple brownfield sites or a large individual site – particularly in distressed communities – requires a strategy for area-wide improvement to attract investment to redevelop brownfields properties,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “The approach also recognizes the importance of identifying and leveraging additional local, state and federal investment to implement the plans.”

EPA will work with the City of Goshen and other selected projects in 18 states and one territory to identify ways the planning effort can utilize local, state and federal resources to help implement area-wide efforts for housing, transportation, economic growth and healthy communities. Recipients will be able to leverage the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a joint effort of EPA, Department of Transportation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Economic Development Administration, to identify potential resources to help move the community plans forward.

EPA will award up to $175,000 to each recipient to help facilitate community involvement in developing an area-wide brownfields plan. In Goshen, the city will target the 9th Street Industrial Corridor, which is 12 blocks long and contains 350 parcels. A long history of intensive manufacturing has left a legacy of contamination and abandoned, vacant or underutilized industrial properties. There are at least 61 brownfields in the Corridor, which is surrounded by residential areas and several schools. The city’s comprehensive plan for the area will advance redevelopment and brownfield reuse efforts, identify cleanup goals and evaluate infrastructure conditions. The goal will be to redevelop the Corridor for modern manufacturing and industrial reuse, and create new jobs in the process.

The Partnership for Sustainable Communities ensures that the agencies’ policies, programs and funding consider affordable housing, transportation and environmental protection together. This interagency collaboration gets better results for communities and uses taxpayer money more efficiently. Coordinating federal investments in infrastructure, facilities and services meets multiple economic, environmental and community objectives with each dollar spent. The partnership is helping communities across the country to create more housing choices, make transportation more efficient and reliable, reinforce existing investments, and support vibrant and healthy neighborhoods that attract businesses.

More information on the grant recipients: http://epa.gov/brownfields/areawide_grants.htm

More information on the partnership: https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/partnership_year1.pdf

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