EPA invests big in cleanup of contaminated properties and job creation
Today the U.S. Environment Protection Agency announced it will be investing $76 million in various projects across the nation to redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies, and help create jobs.
The cleanup targets abandoned industrial and commercial properties and proposes efforts to dispose of waste and other hazardous materials onsite.
According to the EPA, there are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America.
The grants, called brownfields investments, have leveraged more than $16.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have resulted in approximately 70,000 jobs.
The EPA said areas in most need, such as economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, took precedence when deciding where to allocate funds.
The organization issued 214 grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants programs that will go to 40 states and three tribes across the country.
Revitalizing our communities is vital to our health and the health of our local economies, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. The grants were awarding to communities across America will support projects that will help create thousands of jobs and make our communities cleaner, healthier and more prosperous places to raise a family and start a business. Theyre part of our overall effort to clean up communities and put our nation on the path to a sustainable future.
Examples of future projects include:
· The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee will use cleanup grant funding to transform a former contaminated property into a modern business park with residential and retail amenities, creating more than 800 jobs.
· Springfield, Missouri will use cleanup grant funding to transform a vacant, contaminated former rail yard into a natural wetland open space with greenway trails. This project will leverage more than $6 million in cleanup and redevelopment funding.
Seven communities in Michigan this year will receive a total of $2.9 million in brownfields investments.
“For a struggling auto community at the epicenter of the national economic crisis, we depend on the power of brownfields funding to energize Lansing’s local economy and create jobs, said Mayor Virg Bernero. With the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who played a key role in an extraordinary public-private partnership, we have transformed an old, abandoned power plant on our downtown riverfront into a new engine of prosperity and job growth for Michigan. More than 1,500 people spent 800,000 work-hours to complete this massive project, and another thousand permanent jobs will be retained and created in Lansing over the next few years. With the additional funds announced today, we will be able to replicate this success and put even more of our citizens back to work.”
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