EPA Selects Seven Projects in North Carolina to Receive $2.8 Million for Brownfields Cleanup and Assessment
The grant awards help underserved communities across the country Build Back Better and address Environmental Justice concerns
RALEIGH (May 12, 2021) – This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the selection of seven projects in North Carolina for Brownfields grants totaling $2,800,000. This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties.
“Through our Brownfields Program, EPA is delivering on the Biden Administration’s commitment to lifting up and protecting overburdened communities across America, especially communities that have experienced long periods of disinvestment and decay,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “These assessment and cleanup grants will not only support economic growth and job creation, but they will also empower communities to address the environmental, public health, and social issues associated with contaminated land.”
“EPA’s Brownfields funding has a proven track record of transforming communities and turning abandoned and contaminated sites into true public assets,” said EPA Acting Region 4 Administrator John Blevins. “Brownfields projects spur economic development and attract jobs, grow innovative and lasting partnerships and can revitalize underserved communities.”
Nationally, EPA selected 151 communities to receive 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. Approximately 50 percent of selected recipients will be receiving EPA Brownfields Grant funding for the first time and more than 85 percent are located in or serving small communities. In the southeast, 37 grants totaling over $14 million will go to organizations or communities across the eight southeastern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The grant recipients in North Carolina include:
Columbus County - $600,000 Assessment Grant will be used to inventory sites and conduct 28 Phase I and 15 Phase II environmental site assessments and prepare four cleanup plans. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach and site reuse planning activities, including two site visioning charettes. Assessment activities will focus on the Towns of Chadbourn and Fair Bluff, which are the County’s coalition partners. Priority sites include the former Chadbourn Middle School and the former Columbus College and Career Academy.
Drexel - $500,000 Cleanup Grant will be used to clean up the former Drexel Heritage Furniture Plant located at 101 North Main Street. The cleanup site formerly contained various furniture plants until the early 2000s. A mill structure was demolished in 2013, leaving building construction demolition debris in place. The site is contaminated with inorganic contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities.
Louisburg - $300,000 Assessment Grant will be used to inventory and prioritize sites for assessment and conduct 10 Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop a cleanup plan, three reuse plans, and an area-wide plan, and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the town’s River Corridor. Priority sites include a three-acre vacant lot surrounded by industrial operations, a city block with a former medical office building and former service station, and a former freight railroad station.
Siler City - $300,000 Assessment Grant will be used to inventory and prioritize sites and conduct 12 Phase I and seven Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop three cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Assessment activities will focus on the 11th Street Corridor and the 2nd Avenue Corridor. Priority sites include a 2.3-acre former auto dealership, and a cluster of four adjacent vacant parcels that previously housed a restaurant, dry cleaner, car wash, and propane dealer.
Tarboro - $300,000 Assessment Grant will be used to conduct 10 Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop three cleanup plans, one area-wide plan, and two market studies as well as support community outreach activities. Priority sites include a vacant hardware store, a former farm equipment manufacturer, and a former county hospital.
Warrenton - $300,000 Assessment Grant will be used to conduct 10 Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to develop two cleanup plans and support community outreach activities. Priority sites include a historic commercial building that is now vacant, a former county jail, and a former tobacco warehouse that was destroyed by fire in 2011.
Washington - $500,000 Cleanup Grant will be used to clean up the Hotel Louise site located at 163 West Main Street. The 33,000 square-foot structure operated as a hotel and first-floor storefront until 1972, after which it was repurposed for residential apartments with first-floor commercial use. It has been vacant and unused since 2010 and is contaminated with metals and inorganic contaminants. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities.
The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants.
EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.
Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example,
· To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment.
· Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.
· In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.
· Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.
For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa-brownfield-grant-funding
For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields