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News Releases from Region 05

EPA Brownfields Funding Announced for Bloomington, Connersville, Indianapolis, Logansport, Madison County and Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission

05/31/2017
Contact Information: 
Joshua Singer (Singer.joshua@epa.gov)
312-353-5069

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2017

EPA Brownfields Funding Announced for Bloomington, Connersville, Indianapolis, Logansport, Madison County and Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission

CHICAGO – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected 172 communities and organizations across the country, including Bloomington, Connersville, Indianapolis, Logansport, Madison County and the Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission in Indiana to receive funding for brownfields site revitalization to help local governments redevelop vacant and unused properties, transforming communities and local economies.

“EPA is committed to working with communities to redevelop Brownfields sites which have plagued their neighborhoods. EPA’s Assessment and Cleanup grants target communities that are economically disadvantaged and include places where environmental cleanup and new jobs are most needed," said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "These grants leverage considerable infrastructure and other investments, improving local economies and creating an environment where jobs can grow. I am very pleased the President’s budget recognizes the importance of these grants by providing continued funding for this important program.”

The following communities and organizations in Indiana were selected to receive funding:

  • The Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission was selected to receive a $475,000 grant to investigate environmental conditions at properties with redevelopment potential in the Greensburg Industrial-Commercial District, Madison’s Ohio River District, North Vernon’s Downtown District, and Shelbyville’s Miller Corridor. 
  • The city of Bloomington was selected to receive a $300,000 grant to continue its brownfields redevelopment efforts in the B-Line Trail Corridor. Previous EPA brownfields grants to the city funded several environmental investigations and redevelopment projects that resulted in new investments in the city totaling more than $31 million.
  • The city of Connersville was selected to receive a $300,000 grant to focus efforts on the West Industrial/Central Business District, as well as the Whitewater River Trail Area.
  • The city of Logansport, in partnership with Fulton County and Eel Township, was selected to receive a $600,000 grant to target sites in downtown Logansport, downtown Rochester, and more rural areas of the county. A previous EPA brownfields grant to Logansport yielded more than two dozen environmental investigations, leveraged more than $31 million in additional redevelopment investments and contributed to the creation of nearly 100 new jobs.
  • The city of Indianapolis was selected to receive a $300,000 grant to continue redevelopment efforts in the Indy East Promise Zone and the Twin Aire and Sherman Park corridors. Previous EPA brownfields grants to Indianapolis funded the assessment of nearly 100 contaminated acres citywide and dozens of redevelopment projects.
  • The Madison County Council of Governments was selected to receive a $300,000 grant to investigate properties in Alexandria, Anderson and Elwood.

Studies have shown that residential property values near brownfields sites that are cleaned up increased between 5 and 15 percent and can increase property values in a 1.24-mile radius of that site. A study analyzing data near 48 brownfields sites shows an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to those brownfields.

As of May 2017, more than 124,759 jobs and $24 billion of public and private funding have been leveraged as a result of assessment grants and other EPA brownfields grants. On average, $16.11 was leveraged for each EPA brownfields dollar and 8.5 jobs leveraged per $100,000 of EPA brownfields funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.

List of the FY 2017 Applicants Selected for Funding: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-list-fy17-grants-selected-funding

About EPA’s brownfields program: https://epa.gov/brownfields.

Successful brownfields stories: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-success-stories.