[StBernard] Superfund and Brownfields News Release (Region 6): EPA: $3.6 Million in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup, Economic Development in Louisiana

[Westley Annis]

EPA: $3.6 Million in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup, Economic
Development in Louisiana 

  

Grant amount bolstered by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds 

  

(Dallas, Texas - May 8, 2009)  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today the availability of an
estimated $3.6 million in grants bolstered by funds from the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help communities in Louisiana clean
up sites known as "brownfields" which may be contaminated by hazardous
chemicals or pollutants. The grants, which include $200,000 from the
Recovery Act and $3.4 million from the EPA brownfields general program
funding, help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning
them fro m problem properties to productive community use.    

  

"Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to
improving the lives of residents living in or near brownfields communities,"
said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.  "A revitalized brownfields site
reduces threats to human health and the environment, creates green jobs,
promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local
neighborhoods." 

  

"The cleanup and reuse of brownfields not only renews damaged or vacant
property, it also helps spur additional reinvestment in these communities
over the long haul," said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Lawrence E.
Starfield. "These Recovery Act and EPA grants will put people and property
back to work in Louisiana." 

  

Applicants selected to receive Recovery Act funds are: 

. City of Alexandria - $200,000, assessment, to conduct environmental site
assessments, conduct cleanup planning, and support community outreach
activities in the downtown area and historical commercial corridors. 

  

Applicants selected to receive brownfields general program funds are: 

. Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana - $200,000, cleanup,
for InterTech Science Park in Shreveport; 

. City of Lake Charles - $200,000, assessment, to conduct environmental site
assessments and support community outreach activities; 

. City of New Iberia - $200,000, cleanup, for Timeless Treasures site at 121
Bridge Street; 

. Jefferson Parish - $400,000, assessment, to identify new brownfields,
conduct environmental site assessments and support community outreach
activities; 

. Regional Planning Commission - $400,000, assessment, to conduct
environmental site assessments for hazardous substances and petroleum and to
support community outreach activities; and 

. South Central Planning & Development Commission - $2 million, revolving
loan fund, to provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for
sites contaminated with petroleum and hazardous substances. 

  

The grants will help to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned,
contaminated properties known as brownfields.  Brownfields are sites where
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In
addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization
Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred
lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal
drugs.  Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The
Brownfields Program encourages development of < st1:place
w:st="on">America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste
sites.  

  

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on
February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented
with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the
American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.


  

More information on brownfields cleanup revolving loan fund pilots and
grants and other brownfields activities under the Recovery Act:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm. 

  

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

  

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