Tennessee Communities Receive Grants for Environmental Assessment, Cleanup
NASHVILLE – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced four Tennessee recipients will receive a total of $2.2 million in grant funding to help communities assess and cleanup sites known as Brownfields, which may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation assists communities in the application process, and applications are made directly from the communities to EPA.
“We’re pleased this funding is available for our communities to clean Brownfields and safely return these properties to beneficial use,” said Environment and Conservation Deputy Commissioner Paul Sloan. “These cleanup projects benefit the environment and help renew local economies.”
In Tennessee:
The City of Chattanooga was awarded $1.2 million. $1 million will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the city of Chattanooga will provide loans to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances in urban core areas. The remaining $200,000 will be used to clean up the former Anchor Glass office site on the 400 block of West 45th Street.
Hamilton County was awarded $200,000 for the hazardous substance cleanup of the former Charles A. Bell Elementary School at 3501 Central Avenue.
The City of Knoxville was awarded two grants totaling $400,000. One $200,000 grant is to assess petroleum contamination and the other to assess hazardous substances. Both grants will be used for a community-wide assessment of the South Knoxville Waterfront Project.
The Upper Cumberland Development District was awarded $400,000 ($200,000 for petroleum, $200,000 for hazardous substances) for a community-wide assessment to help the region move forward with cleanup and redevelopment activities.
Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.
Tennessee’s grants are part of $111.9 million in Brownfield grant funding announced by EPA. The federal grants include $37.3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and $74.6 from the EPA Brownfields general program funding. All of Tennessee’s grants come from EPA’s general program funds.
For more information, visit www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm.