The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Monday announced the award of $400,000 in brownfields grants to Pittsburgh’s North Side Industrial Development Company. 

The funding will be used to assess abandoned industrial sites in Pittsburgh that may be potentially contaminated with hazardous substances so that they can be cleaned up and redeveloped.

Brownfields are properties where real or suspected environmental contamination has prevented productive reuse of those properties.

“This funding will help NSIDC and the city of Pittsburgh reclaim properties that have been unused for years and turn those sites into assets for the community, the environment and the economy,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin.  “Brownfields initiatives demonstrate how environmental protection and economic development work hand-in-hand.”

Regional Administrator Garvin made the announcement at the Homewood Station Senior Apartments, 7202 Susquehanna Street in Pittsburgh, which is a former brownfields site that was assessed with a previous EPA grant to NSIDC. 

With this additional $400,000, EPA has provided NSIDC with $5 million in EPA brownfields grants since 2005 to support cleanup and redevelopment projects.

NSIDC, a nonprofit corporation, operates to promote the economic and community development of the North Side of the city of Pittsburgh and other areas in southwestern Pennsylvania.  The corporation works to enhance communities through job creation, physical improvement, and other community improvements.

EPA’s funding announced today includes two grants for $200,000 each.  One grant will be used to assess properties for potential petroleum contamination and the other will be used to assess properties for other hazardous substances. 

Grant funds will also be used for community outreach.  These grants were among 243 brownfields grants totaling $54.3 million that EPA awarded nationwide this year. 

For more information about environmental assessment grants, visit EPA’s Brownfield Assessment Grants webpage.   For a list of EPA 2015 brownfields grants in Pennsylvania, Click Here.

NewsClip: EPA Awards $400K Brownfields Grants In Allegheny County

8/31/2015