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Houston to get cleaner, greener with $400,000 from EPA

Release Date: 04/07/2008
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

More than $5 million in brownfields funding awarded across region

(Dallas, Texas – April 7, 2008) The City of Houston will be working to transform polluted properties into community assets with the help of $400,000 in brownfields grants from the Environmental Protection Agency.

More than $5 million in brownfields grants were announced today across EPA Region 6, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

“EPA continues to use the brownfields program to stimulate environmental and economic success in our communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “This program is a great example of how EPA and the City of Houston can work together to turn contaminated properties into viable developments.”

Brownfields are vacant, abandoned or under-used properties with redevelopment potential that suffer from known or perceived environmental contamination.

Houston was awarded two brownfields grants, which will be used to inventory sites with hazardous substances and potential petroleum contamination, conduct assessments, and conduct community outreach.

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. The brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Nationally, brownfields assistance has attracted more than $11.3 billion in private investment, helped create more than 48,000 jobs and resulted in the assessment and cleanup of nearly 12,000 properties.

Additional information on the brownfields recipients and their projects is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm.

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

An EPA audio file is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/audio.htm#audio040308_houston.