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Laredo brownfields site to get greener with $25,000 from EPA

Release Date: 07/29/2008
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

City will use grant to add green building features to new recreation center near site

(Dallas, Texas – July 29, 2008) The City of Laredo will receive $25,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to help add green building features to the new recreation center it plans to build at the Killam Lake brownfields site.

Funding for the project is part of more than $500,000 in grants announced today by EPA for 16 Brownfields Sustainability Pilots nationwide.

“EPA continues to use the brownfields program to stimulate both environmental and economic success,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “These pilots will demonstrate best practices that can be used by other communities across the country.”

The Laredo recreation center project will incorporate sustainable building design, effective storm water management systems, and native vegetation to conserve water resources. City officials expect to make the Killam Lake site and the new recreation center an integral part of the city’s master trail system plan along Chacon Creek.

Brownfields are vacant, abandoned or under-used properties where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of environmental contamination. Since the beginning of the program in 1995, EPA’s south central region has leveraged $2.3 billion in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, helped create 10,700 jobs and resulted in the assessment of 750 properties.

Additional information on the Brownfields Sustainability Pilots is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

To learn more about activities in EPA Region 6, please visit https://www.epa.gov/region6.