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Houston awarded $50,000 from EPA for solar project

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 develop energy plant on site of former landfill

(Dallas, Texas – July 29, 2008) The City of Houston has been awarded $50,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency to help develop a solar energy plant on the site of a former landfill.

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 Houston project seeks to revitalize a 300-acre former landfill site located near downtown. Funding from EPA will help with evaluating the various environmental, engineering, and regulatory issues involved in the project. Assistance will also help conduct solar energy production and financial feasibility studies.

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 supported 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.