News Releases from Region 06

EPA Awards $400,000 to the City of Shreveport to Assess Contaminated Brownfields Sites

DALLAS - (May 28, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced the City of Shreveport as a recipient of $400,000 grant to assess, clean and redevelop contaminated properties in the local community. EPA recently awarded $54.3 million in investments grants to 145 other communities across the country. The project will boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

"Brownfields sites are community assets that can foster economic development by reuse and involve community members in the process, said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. "We are pleased to equip communities with the tools to address environmental challenges in their neighborhoods."

The funding will help Shreveport assess and clean brownfields sites, which are abandoned sites that are difficult to redevelop because of the presence or potential presence of contamination.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's brownfields program has leveraged more than $22 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per EPA brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 105,942 jobs nationwide. EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.

More about the Brownfields program in EPA Region 6:

http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/brownfields/

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Activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm