Kentucky Receives $800,000 in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup and Assessment from the U.S. EPA
FRANKFORT, KY – October 6, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded four brownfield grants to Kentucky totaling $800,000 to fund the assessment and cleanup of properties with environmental problems. Brownfields are properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to real or perceived environmental contamination. They can include old factories, former gas stations, mine-scarred lands and abandoned dry cleaning establishments.
Each year, local governments are eligible to compete for these federal grants. The Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program, located in the department’s Division of Compliance Assistance, works closely with communities to develop and submit competitive proposals for this federal funding. Since the Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program began working actively with communities in 2006, Kentucky has successfully brought in nearly $6 million in federal funding for brownfield properties.
The grants awarded to Kentucky communities include the following:
● City of Covington––Former Stewart Iron Works Site $200,000 Cleanup Grant
The funds from this grant will be used to clean up the Stewart Iron Works site at 20 West 18th Street. Since the early 1900s, the facility has been used to produce metal works for gates, fencing, and furnishings and is contaminated with paint and petroleum products. Contaminants of concern include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds and PCBs. Grant funds also will be used for community outreach activities.
● Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government––$200,000 Assessment Grant
The community-wide hazardous substances grant funds will be used to develop a site inventory and conduct 20 Phase I and 10 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop five clean-up plans and conduct community outreach activities. Brownfield assessments will identify potential risks posed by sites and help ensure that the level of cleanup is appropriate for planned reuse. The county expects that assessments also will catalyze redevelopment in the target area.
● Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government––Two assessment grants of $200,000 each, one for hazardous substances and one for petroleum
The Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government will use community-wide hazardous substances grant funds to complete a brownfields inventory and conduct five or six Phase I and three to five Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop three or four clean-up plans, conduct area-wide planning and support community outreach activities. Petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct the same tasks at sites with potential petroleum contamination.
The EPA awarded more than $76 million in new grants across the country that will redevelop contaminated properties. These brownfields grants are used to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties such as deserted gas stations or closed smelters. There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in the country. Since its inception, the EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $16.3 billion in clean-up and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources. The EPA 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.
For more information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields website at www.epa.gov/brownfields. To contact the Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program, call 800-926-8111 or visit dca.ky.gov
Contact:
Mary Jo Harrod
800-926-8111
