Today, lto administrator of the Region 7 from the US Environmental Protection Agency. USA. ( EPA ), Meg McCollister presented a symbolic giant check for a total of $ 400,000 to the city of Denison, Iowa, to celebrate its Brownfields grant.
The city hosted the event in Washington Park. McCollister was accompanied by Denison Mayor Pam Soseman, City Manager Bradley Hanson, regional leaders, and community members.
Denison was selected to the work community-wide assessment and development of reuse plans for sites including the Denison Municipal Public Services Power Plant and the Avenue C. site. This grant also supports the creation of a project website and Spanish translation services for broadcast activities.
"The EPA 7 Region is proud to celebrate Denison's first Brownfields grant," he said McCollister. “The Brownfields Program has a proven track record of empowering communities, and we are excited that Denison implements this financing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for its own unique needs for reuse and revitalization. ”.
"On behalf of the Denison community, I am extremely excited and grateful that the community partners with the EPA in a Brownfields evaluation grant to help us clean up key areas of our community, ”he said Soseman. "This will increase our ability to revitalize vacant areas by transforming them into usable spaces.
The grant is backed by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which contributes a total of $ 1.5 billion to promote environmental justice, stimulate economic revitalization and create jobs by cleaning up contaminated or dangerous Brownfields properties.
After the grant delivery event, EPA invited members of the Denison community to meet with McCollister in a community listening session to discuss his thoughts on public health and the environment.
Background
Brownfields projects can range from cleaning buildings with asbestos or lead contamination to evaluating and cleaning abandoned properties that once handled dangerous chemicals. Once cleaned, Brownfields' old properties can be converted into productive uses such as supermarkets, affordable housing, health centers, museums, parksand solar farms.
The Brownfields Program promotes the Initiative Justice40 from President Biden, who aims to deliver at least 40% of the benefits of certain government programs to disadvantaged communities. Approximately 86% of the communities selected to receive funds as part of today's announcement have proposed projects in historically marginalized areas.
Since its creation in 1995, EPA investments in Brownfields sites have taken more advantage of $ 35 billion in cleaning and redevelopment. This has achieved significant benefits for communities across the country. For example:
This funding has created more than 183,000 jobs in cleaning, construction and redevelopment and more than 9,500 properties have been ready for reuse.
According to reports from grant recipients, beneficiaries achieved on average $ 20.43 for every Brownfields dollar from the EPA and 10.3 jobs for every $ 100,000 of the EPA Brownfield grant funds spent in cooperative evaluation, cleaning and revolving loan funds agreements.
Additionally, a peer-reviewed academic study found that residential properties near abandoned sites increased in value among a 5% and 15% thanks to cleaning activities.
Finally, analyzing the data about 48 Brownfields, the EPA found that approximately $ 29 million to $ 97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleaning, representing two to seven times more than the $ 12.4 million that the EPA contributed to cleaning those sites of Brownfields.
For more information on Brownfields grants, visit: www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa - brownfield - grant - founding.
You will find more information about the EPA Brownfields Program at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.
Original source can be found here.
