On Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $5.4 million in grants from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Indiana while advancing environmental justice.
These investments through EPA’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup and Revolving Loan Fund grant programs will help transform once-polluted, vacant and abandoned properties into community assets, while helping to create good jobs and spur economic revitalization in overburdened communities.
EPA selected four communities in Indiana to receive grants totaling $4.4 million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the multipurpose, assessment and cleanup grant program. In addition, the agency is announcing $1 million in supplemental funding to an existing, high-performing brownfields revolving loan fund grant program to help expedite their continued work at sites in Indiana.
“Far too many communities across America have suffered the harmful economic and health consequences of living near polluted brownfield sites,” said President Joe Biden. “I’ve long believed that people who’ve borne the burden of pollution should be the first to see the benefits of new
investment. Under my
Administration, we are making that a reality by ensuring the historic resources from my Investing in America agenda reach communities that need it most.”
“President Biden sees contaminated sites and blighted areas as an opportunity to invest in healthier, revitalized communities,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “That why he secured historic funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supercharging EPA’s Brownfields program to clean up contaminated properties in overburdened communities and bring them back into productive use.”
“The Great Lakes Region has a rich industrial history that brought with it economic prosperity, but also legacy contamination that stills plagued many of our communities,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “With today’s announcement and the ongoing investments from the Biden Administration, EPA and our many partners are accelerating brownfield cleanups and community redevelopment.”
“We are very excited to learn that the City of Crawfordsville has been awarded another Brownfields Community-wide Assessment Grant Funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton. “After recently finishing a round of assessments, we have found that once we are able to assess these sites, and obtain accurate information, the uncertainty is mitigated and we are able to create viable plans for remediation, and ultimately, return these areas to productive use, while reducing threats to public health and safety. This funding will allow us to continue to focus on key areas within our city, that have stood idle for far too long, and we are very appreciative that the U.S. EPA has chosen to invest in Crawfordsville again.”
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity, and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
EPA’s Brownfields program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The Brownfields program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations in all aspects of its work. Approximately 86% of the applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include disadvantaged communities.
The following organizations in Indiana have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the multipurpose, assessment and cleanup grant program.
• City of Crawfordsville to receive a $400,000 Brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 11 Phase I and up to 10 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to identify and prioritize additional brownfield sites, prepare cleanup and support community engagement activities. The target area for this grant is the city of Crawfordsville’s Southeast Side Neighborhood. Priority sites include a former automotive manufacturer, former industrial sites, a former auto repair facility and a recycling center.
• DeKalb County — $500,000 Brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 11 Phase I and up to 12 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to identify additional sites, develop up to 10 cleanup plans and conduct community engagement activities. The target area for this grant is the cities of Auburn and Butler as well as the town of Waterloo. Priority sites include former foundries, vacant commercial buildings, and a former bus garage.
• Fort Wayne Redevelopment Authority — $2 million Brownfields cleanup grant to clean up the former OmniSource South property. The eight-acre cleanup site was developed in the late 1870s as a rail repair yard and was used for scrap iron metal processing and recycling between the mid-1950s and 1990s. The site has been vacant since 2006 and all above-ground structures were razed by 2012. Soils at the site are contaminated with heavy metals, PCBs, volatile organic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; vinyl chloride has been found in groundwater. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community engagement activities.
• Michiana Area Council of Governments to lead a Brownfields assessment coalition grant of $1,5 million to update the brownfields inventory and conduct 27 Phase I and 35 Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to conduct cleanup and reuse planning for 14 sites and support community engagement activities. Assessment activities will focus on cities and towns in a four-county region, including the town of Argos, and the cities of Elkhart, South Bend, Warsaw and Plymouth. Priority sites include a 3,300-square-foot former gas station, a 15.9-acre former locomotive repair facility and a 2.6-acre abandoned bulk oil storage facility.
Revolving loan fund grants provide funding for recipients to offer loans and subgrants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites. The funding announced today will help communities continue to address the economic, social and environmental challenges caused by brownfield sites. The following Indiana organization has been selected to receive non-competitive supplemental funding:
The Indiana Finance Authority Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund has been selected to receive a $1 million grant due to its high-performing revolving loan fund program with significantly depleted funds. The program has successfully made loans or subgrants leading to 27 cleanup projects that are either completed or in progress. Potential projects statewide have been highlighted for use of the BIL funding, including the Lafayette Paperboard site in Lafayette and the Muncie Paper Processing site in Muncie. The BIL funding will extend the capacity of the program to provide funding for more cleanups in the most underserved areas in the state of Indiana.
To see the list of revolving loan fund supplemental funding recipients visit EPA’s FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup Applicants webpage. To learn more about revolving loan fund technical assistance grant recipient visit EPA’s Brownfields Grow America webpage.
