Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $7,999,560 from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Mississippi while advancing environmental justice.

EPA selected five communities in Mississippi to receive grants totaling more than $3,594,110 in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this is the largest ever funding awarded in the history of the EPA’s Brownfields MARC Grant programs.

These investments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

“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. 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,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This critical wave of investments is the largest in Brownfields history and will accelerate our work to protect the people and the planet by transforming what was once blight into might.”

"This historic investment of more than $35 million for communities across the Southeast will help address suspected contamination of urban and suburban properties that dates back to the Industrial Revolution," said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. "Brownfields and other contaminated properties often are located in environmental justice communities where residents are disproportionately impacted, thus making these awards especially critical."

“I am thrilled to learn about the funding that will be awarded to Natchez and Vicksburg. I applaud the work that EPA is doing for my district,” said Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02). “The Biden-Harris Administration is delivering for the people of America. This significant investment will improve and enhance the cleanup of brownfield sites across the country.”

Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those located in areas that have experienced long periods of disinvestment, lack the resources needed to initiate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. As brownfield sites are transformed into community assets, they attract jobs, promote economic revitalization and transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places.

Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields Program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity, and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.

EPA’s Brownfields Program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities. The Brownfields Program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations into all aspects of its work. Approximately 84 percent of the MARC program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include historically underserved communities.

Funding Breakdown:

The following organizations in Mississippi have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs:

The City of Booneville has been selected for a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 12 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to inventory sites, prepare four cleanup plans, and conduct community engagement activities including up to six public meetings. The target areas for this grant are the city’s Downtown Core and the Church Street Corridor. Priority sites include a former Masonic Lodge, a former department store, and an auto repair shop.

The City of Columbia has been selected for a $464,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct eight Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare five cleanup plans and to maintain a GIS-based brownfield site inventory. The target area for this grant is the City of Columbia with a focus on the Webb Corner community, the High School Avenue Corridor, and the downtown area. Priority sites include the over 100-acre delisted Newsome Brothers Superfund site, the former Roger’s Oil Company site, several former gas stations, and a 7-acre multipurpose parcel.

The City of Natchez has been selected for a $1,175,625 Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the 0.87-acre Fry Building Site at 116 North Pearl Street. Historical documents indicate the site was developed with dwellings, warehouses, and boarding houses during the late 1800s. Between 1901 and 1904, the southeast portion of the site was developed with a building containing offices, stores, and restaurants and used until 2021 when it was deeded to the City. The cleanup site is contaminated with polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, inorganic contaminants, and metals. Grant funds also will be used to update an existing Community Involvement Plan and support community engagement activities.

The Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District has been selected for a $494,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 12 Phase I and nine Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare a brownfield site inventory, prepare a Community Involvement Plan, and develop a dedicated website. The target area for this grant is the Southern Mississippi Planning and Development District with a focus on the Old North Laurel neighborhood in the City of Laurel, the Mobile Street/Twin Forks Rising community in the City of Hattiesburg, and the Picayune Southside neighborhood in the City of Picayune. Priority sites include the former Laurel Charity Hospital, which closed in 1989 and has been vacant since; a 13-acre former fertilizer and mixing facility that closed in 1988 and was later used as a building material salvage operation; and the 17-acre former Valspar Property, which was listed as a large quantity waste generator from 1998 to 2015.

The City of Vicksburg has been selected for a $960,485 Brownfields Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the US Rubber Reclaiming Site located at 2000 Rubber Way. The cleanup site was developed as an industrial facility in 1958 and rubber reclaiming operations occurred on the property for over 50 years. The site currently is vacant and is contaminated with petroleum, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and inorganic contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to support community engagement activities.

You can read more about this year’s RLF recipients, here.

Additional Background:

EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged more than $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged, from both public and private sources, nearly 260,000 jobs. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leverage an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.

The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on August 8-11, 2023, in Detroit, Michigan. Offered every two years, this conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing former commercial and industrial properties. EPA co-sponsors this event with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).

For more on Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding

For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields

Original source can be found here.