The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded over $71 million in brownfields grants to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, including six grants for Pennsylvania projects.

The Pennsylvania projects include:

· Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority, $1 million: The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority will provide loans to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Grant funds will be used entirely to fund qualified loans;

· Borough of Central City, $200,000: Grant funds will be used to perform environmental assessments at prioritized sites and support community outreach activities;

· Johnstown Redevelopment Authority, $200,000: Grant funds will be used to identify and collect data through targeted assessments and conduct community outreach activities throughout the Greater Johnstown community;

· Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., $200,000: grant funds will be used to expand LVEDC's inventory of brownfield sites and to conduct about six Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to implement community outreach activities;

· North Side Industrial Development Corp, Allegheny County, $400,000: Hazardous substances grant funds ($200,000) will be used to solicit community input, inventory brownfields, and conduct Phase I and II environmental site assessments in the seven Allegheny River Towns Enterprise Zone communities. Funds also will be used for community outreach activities. Petroleum grant funds will be used to perform the same tasks for sites with potential petroleum contamination; and

· Steelton, Dauphin County, $200,000: Grant funds will be used to identify and prioritize brownfields sites, and conduct Phase I and II environmental site assessments at up to five sites. Grant funds also will be used to conduct a human health-based risk assessment, and support community outreach activities.

For more information, visit EPA’s brownfields grants webpage.

NewsClip: EPA Gives Johnstown $1.2 Million to Cleanup Hazardous Substances

5/18/2007