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Oklahoma City to Receive $400,000 from EPA

Release Date: 05/12/2006
Contact Information: Cynthia Fanning at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Dallas, Texas - May 12, 2006) Oklahoma City has been selected to receive two Brownfields grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene announced today.

"EPA's Brownfields program can be an important part of the cure for ailing inner city properties," Greene said. "Brownfields grants help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use."

The city will use a petroleum assessment grant to create an inventory of brownfields sites, perform environmental site assessments, conduct community outreach and involvement and develop cleanup plans for sites around Oklahoma City. Properties identified for the assessment funding will be cleaned up through the city's existing Brownfields revolving loan fund grant.

The city will also receive $200,000 to clean petroleum contamination at a site on the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Sheridan Avenue, the designated home of the new City Bricktown Fire Station. Since the 1920s, the property has been used for a variety of industrial purposes, including oilfield production and processing, an asphalt plant and a railroad siding.

A Brownfield is a property which may have expansion, redevelopment or reuse challenges from hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants. EPA's Brownfields program is designed to help stakeholders assess, safely clean and sustainably reuse these properties. Reinvesting in Brownfields increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, uses existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off undeveloped land, and improves and protects the environment.

Applicants receiving 292 Brownfields grants in four categories totaling $69.9 million are being announced nationwide today. More information about EPA's Brownfields program and the grant recipients is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.