Brownfields 2007 Grant Fact Sheet

Great Northern Development Corporation, Inc., Northeast Montana

EPA BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.

ASSESSMENT GRANT

$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Great Northern Development Corporation, Inc. for a brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to conduct at least six Phase I and at least two Phase II environmental site assessments in six rural counties in the state. Funds also will be used for community outreach activities.

COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION

The Great Northern Development Corporation, Inc. (GNDC) was selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant. The GNDC's brownfields efforts will target six rural counties in northeast Montana: Daniels, Garfield, McCone, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Valley (combined population 26,031). These counties include a federally designated Enterprise Community and the entire Fort Peck Sioux and Assiniboine Indian Reservation. More than 25 percent of the area's residents are Native Americans, and 19.3 percent of residents live below the poverty level. The closing and downsizing of several large employers has resulted in a reduced tax base, fewer job opportunities, and a legacy of potentially contaminated brownfields. There are 735 abandoned mine sites, and hundreds of leaking underground storage tanks within the six counties. Brownfields assessment will help to remove the largest roadblock to redevelopment, which is unknown environmental contamination. Brownfields redevelopment will increase and diversify the tax base, provide jobs, and improve the economic stability of the region.

CONTACTS

For further information, including specific grant contacts, additional grant information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields.

EPA Region 8 Brownfields Team
303-312-7074
http://www.epa.gov/region08/land_waste/bfhome/bfhome.html

Grant Recipient: Great Northern Development Corporation, Inc., MT
406-653-2590

The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated. Therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.