EPA Grants to Help Revitalize Brownfields Sites in Robeson County, NC

Robeson County, North Carolina has been selected for $400,000 in EPA brownfields assessment grants to perform environmental site assessments on targeted redevelopment areas with potential hazardous substances and petroleum contamination throughout the county. The combined total of brownfields grant funds for assessment or cleanup of properties in North Carolina is $2 million.

In the Southeast, 29 communities have been selected to receive grants for assessment or cleanup of properties. Nationally, EPA awarded $70.7 million to communities in 38 states, two territories and five tribal nations to help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, making them available for productive community use. The brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Since the beginning of the program, EPA has awarded 1,067 assessment grants totaling more than $262 million, 217 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $201.7 million, and 336 cleanup grants totaling $61.3 million.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In January 2002, President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, which authorizes annual funding for brownfields grants. The 2002 law expanded the definition of brownfields, so communities may now focus on mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs.

In addition to industrial and commercial redevelopment, brownfields approaches have included the conversion of industrial waterfronts to river-front parks, landfills to golf courses, rail corridors to recreational trails, and gas stations to housing. EPA’s brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $9.6 billion in cleanup and redevelopment, helped create more than 43,029 jobs and resulted in the assessment of more than 10,504 properties and the cleanup of 180 properties.