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EPA Selects Virginia Communities for New Brownfields Investments

Release Date: 05/28/2014
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5523 smith.bonnie@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (May 28, 2014) Two Virginia communities will share in a nationwide total of $67 million in brownfields funding announced today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties. EPA’s brownfields grants totaling $600,000 to the City of Hopewell and Town of Pulaski will help the two communities conduct environmental assessments of properties and review cleanup options.

“By assessing and cleaning up abandoned properties in Hopewell and Pulaski these communities are building a healthier future while creating new job opportunities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “We have seen tremendous accomplishments in communities throughout Virginia in transforming contaminated sites into valuable areas for new businesses and other opportunities.”

Nationwide, 171 communities in 44 states are receiving 264 EPA brownfields grants, giving communities and businesses a chance to reuse properties that have been laying idle and turn them into useful assets. These brownfields investments boost local economies and create new opportunities for community revitalization.

The grants to Virginia include:

· The City of Hopewell was awarded a total of $400,000 for two brownfields assessment grants. The funds will be used to conduct approximately 14 environmental site assessments, conduct clean up planning, and support community engagement activities. This is Hopewell’s first EPA brownfields assessment grant.

· Town of Pulaski will receive a second $200,000 brownfields assessment grant to prioritize its sites identified under a previous brownfields grant inventory and conduct nine environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used for cleanup planning and community engagement activities.