EPA Deputy Administrator awards $4.9 Million in Brownfield funds and visits Superfund Site in Chattanooga, Tennessee
ATLANTA (July 7, 2022) – On Wednesday, July 6, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe joined EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman in presenting the city of Chattanooga with Brownfield program cleanup and assessment grants to help spur economic revitalization by addressing contaminated, polluted, or hazardous brownfield properties and toured Superfund sites in the South Chattanooga and Alton Park communities. The site visits highlighted the importance of cleaning up these communities after disinvestment due to the closure of major industries, as a way to revamp South Chattanooga’s health, and its economy
“Across the country, thousands of potentially dangerous sites, like the former US Pipe facility and the Southside Chattanooga Superfund Site, sit idle, jeopardizing the health and economic security of local communities,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe. “Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties has the power to turn once blighted areas into economic engines right here in Tennessee, supplying opportunities for job growth, increasing tax revenues, and reducing threats to people’s health and the environment.”
“The opportunity to see funds go towards the assessment and cleanup of blighted properties in environmentally challenged communities further highlights the important role these valuable sites have in the stability of South Chattanooga’s infrastructure and economy,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. “Through programs like Brownfields and the National Priorities List, we can provide these communities with the necessary tools to help them create a safer and healthier environment for the future.”
“Brownfield assessments and cleanups are a win-win for Tennessee communities, helping to keep our environment clean and our economy growing,” Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner David Salyers said. “We are excited for our partners in Chattanooga, and we look forward to continuing our work with local leaders and federal agencies to improve the communities we serve.”
"Today's funding announcement represents an incredible investment in the continued economic growth of Chattanooga,” said Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly. “Thanks to the tremendous support of the EPA, we are now one step closer to transforming our city's vacant, neglected brownfields into healthy properties, generating housing, jobs, and prosperity in some of our most under-resourced communities."
The event began with EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe presenting the city of Chattanooga with $3.9M in Revolving Loan Funds (RLF), a $500,000 assessments grant and a $500,000 cleanup grant.
Revolving Loan Fund Grant
EPA has selected the City of Chattanooga for Supplemental Revolving Loans. RLF Supplemental Funding is non-competitive funding for existing, high-performing RLF recipients. All awards will be made with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds. The City will receive $3.9 million.
Assessment Grant
Community-wide grant funds will be used to develop an inventory of brownfield sites and conduct a minimum of four Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities. The target area for this grant is South Chattanooga, which has been severely impacted by disinvestment due to the closure of major industries. Priority sites include the 5-acre Old Ridgedale R.L. Stowe Mercerizing Mill, which was the city's largest employer but has been closed and unused since 2003, a 141-acre former foundry site, and a 9.7-acre former quarry.
Cleanup Grant
Grant funds will be used to clean up the Abandoned Rail Corridor-Future Alton Park Greenway site located at 3225 Broad Street. The cleanup site operated as an active rail line and is now an abandoned rail corridor. It is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, and metals. Grant funds also will be used to support community engagement activities including 12 community meetings.
Superfund
The Deputy Administrator next embarked on a tour to the Southside Chattanooga Lead Superfund Site (SSCL) located in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Site consists of residential neighborhoods and non-residential communal areas (parks, schools, playgrounds, childcare centers), where soils have been impacted by lead-bearing foundry material generated by past foundry operations.
The EPA is currently sampling and remediating properties within the eight residential areas that currently make up the Site: Alton Park, Cowart Place, East Lake, Highland Park, Jefferson Heights, Oak Grove, Southside Gardens, and Richmond. Contaminated soil at residential and communal areas above or equal to the Site-specific cleanup level of 360 milligrams per kilogram is remediated via excavation and transportation to an EPA-approved landfill. The properties are then backfilled with clean fill and restored to their original state.
To date, 2,526 residential and communal properties have been sampled and 433 properties have been cleaned up with approximately 670 properties currently identified for cleanup. The EPA continues to seek access to sample the roughly 2,898 residential properties that have not been sampled in the eight neighborhoods. The EPA has partnered with several trusted local, county, and state human health and environmental organizations to assist with acquiring access.
Background
Brownfields
The target area of this Community-Wide Assessment Grant is South Chattanooga, which is one of the largest economically disadvantaged (74% Low-to-Moderate Income) and majority African American population areas (97%) in Tennessee.
South Chattanooga is a 15-square mile census designated place contained entirely within the corporate limits of the City of Chattanooga, with a population of 14,329. The goal of this project is the assessment of blighted brownfields properties, which will lead to future remediation and housing/ commercial redevelopment opportunities for South Chattanooga’s residents.
For more information on EPA’s Revolving Loan Fund program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-rlf-grants
For more information on EPA’s Brownfields program: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
Superfund
As a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funding awarded to the Site in early January 2022, the rate of cleanups has been increased. At the end of FY2021, the EPA contractor employed 35 workers and accomplished 167 cleanups. As of July 2022, the EPA contractor increased staffing to 63 workers and has cleaned up 151 properties so far this FY. A projected 65 additional cleanups are anticipated by the end of FY2022 for a total of 216 completed cleanups this FY.
For more information on the BIL program: https://www.epa.gov/infrastructure
For more information on Superfund: https://www.epa.gov/superfund