Chattanooga, Tenn., will receive $3.9 million in Revolving Loan Funds, a $500,00 assessments grant and a $500,00 cleanup grant to address contaminated, polluted or hazardous brownfield properties and Superfund sites.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the sites are in the South Chattanooga and Alton Park communities to revamp the community's health and economy, according to a July 7 EPA news release.
"Across the country, thousands of potentially dangerous sites, like the former US Pipe facility and the Southside Chattanooga Superfund Site, sit idle, jeopardizing the health and economic security of local communities," EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe said in the news release. "Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties has the power to turn once blighted areas into economic engines right here in Tennessee, supplying opportunities for job growth, increasing tax revenues and reducing threats to people’s health and the environment."
McCabe and EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman recently visited the sites to make clear how crucial it is to revitalize these neighborhoods following disinvestment brought on by the loss of significant companies, the release reported.
"The opportunity to see funds go toward the assessment and cleanup of blighted properties in environmentally challenged communities further highlights the important role these valuable sites have in the stability of South Chattanooga’s infrastructure and economy," Blackman said, according to the release. "Through programs like Brownfields and the National Priorities List, we can provide these communities with the necessary tools to help them create a safer and healthier environment for the future."
