EPA announces record investment for Indiana brownfields communities
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced grants totaling over $8 million to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda.
Brownfields are properties where the expansion, redevelopment or reuse is complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. The lands were formerly used for commercial and industrial purposes.
The EPA has selected eight communities in Indiana to receive eight grants totaling $5,066,000 in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. Along with the investment, the agency plans to grant $3 million in non-competitive supplemental funding to one successful Revolving Load Fund (RLF) Grant program in Indiana to help with additional cleanups.
“We’re working across the country to revitalize what were once dangerous and polluted sites in overburdened communities into more sustainable and environmentally just places that serve as community assets,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we’re moving further and faster than ever before to clean up contaminated sites, spur economic redevelopment, and deliver relief that so many communities have been waiting for.”
The EPA says its Brownfields Program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities.
Some major cleanups being funded by these grants include a 2.7-acre former petroleum plant in the Bloomington area, the former H.K. Porter site in Huntington, the old Crawford County Courthouse, the former Advance Plating site in Indianapolis, a former steel fabricator in Lawrence, a former battery plant in Logansport, a 124-acre former Alert Billets Air Force Base in North Central Indiana and the 22-acre Marr’s Landfill site in Clarksville.
The following organizations in Indiana have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the MARC Grant Programs:
- CDFI Friendly Bloomington – S500,000
- City of Huntington – $991,000
- Indiana 15 Regional Planning Commission – $500,000
- City of Indianapolis – $975,000
- City of Lawrence – $400,000
- City of Logansport – $400,000
- North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council – $500,000
- River Heritage Conservancy – $800,000
Along with the grants, the Indiana Finance Authority has received $3 million in Non-competitive Supplemental Funding through the existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant Program.
For more information on the Indiana projects receiving funding, click here.