Michael S. Regan 16th Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency | Official Website
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the City of Pueblo, Colorado will receive $1 million in Brownfields grant funding. This funding will support environmental assessments, cleanup, and redevelopment of critical properties in Pueblo.
These investments are part of the agency’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs. "EPA’s Brownfields grants are supporting critical cleanup and redevelopment projects in communities across Colorado," said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. "We look forward to seeing these funds transform blighted sites in Pueblo’s Eastside, Bessemer and Downtown neighborhoods into new assets."
Senator Michael Bennet also expressed his support for the initiative. "In the wealthiest nation in the world, every family should be able to live in a clean environment," he said. "This funding will rightfully support Colorado communities disproportionately affected by contamination. These grants will help Colorado communities safely clean up polluted sites, protect their health, and rebuild in a way that creates jobs and economic opportunity."
The grant will focus on several revitalization projects within Pueblo's Y-Zone area which includes Eastside, Bessemer, and Downtown neighborhoods. The El Centro Del Quinto Sol Community Center is one of the primary sites identified for substantial asbestos cleanup.
Mayor Heather Graham expressed her enthusiasm about the grant: “The City of Pueblo is excited to receive this EPA Multipurpose grant which will help our city restore a community center, restore underutilized significant historic spaces and assist the private sector in redeveloping numerous vacant places.”
Other priority sites include the Steel Works History Museum - a National Historic Landmark site - which requires extensive asbestos abatement before it can be redeveloped.
Additional priority sites include two locations identified from a 2020 Community Wide Assessment grant where over 60 Brownfields sites were identified.
This project aligns with the City of Pueblo’s commitment to 100% renewable energy in its operations by 2035. The revitalization work funded by this grant will promote reuse of historic buildings, eliminating waste to landfills.
The City of Pueblo is among six organizations in Colorado selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the MAC Grant Programs. Other grantees include the cities of Greeley, Northglenn, Kersey, Monte Vista and Metro West Housing Solutions.
EPA’s Brownfields Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to communities marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse.
