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Brownfields Grant awarded to Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

Release Date: 4/12/2000
Contact Information:
(303) 312-6803,

Release Date: 4/12/2000
Contact Information:
(303) 312-6626,

Release Date: 4/12/2000
Contact Information:
(303) 312-6602

DENVER -- The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians in North Dakota today received an additional $150,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its “Brownfields” work on the San Haven redevelopment project near Dunseith in Rolette County. The project is one of 56 nationally to receive added funds.

Brownfields are idled, abandoned, or under-used industrial and commercial properties where redevelopment is complicated by possible environmental contamination. Uncertainties about liability and cleanup costs usually discourage reuse and redevelopment.

San Haven is a vacant abandoned hospital consisting of ten buildings on a 600-acre parcel. The State closed its doors in 1987 and the surrounding community and reservation lost more than 200 jobs. The reservation suffers from a 57 percent unemployment rate.

Unknown environmental conditions at the site have kept the hospital and surrounding property vacant with an increase in destruction and vandalism to the property and buildings.

The Project aims to redevelop San Haven into a tourism and economic development area with recreation, arts and related commercial activities to replace some of the lost employment. The Tribe acquired the property in 1992 and received a Brownfields Pilot grant of $200,000 in 1998. The Tribe has made significant progress in planning, networking, community involvement and initial assessments of the site, according to EPA project officers.

The added funds will be used to continue the initial assessment work and move into more detailed phases. The Tribe will develop a comprehensive cleanup and redevelopment plan, find ways to leverage additional resources for those tasks and conduct hearings and meetings to ensure community involvement in future land-use decisions.

Brownfields funds are used to bring together community groups, investors, lenders, developers and other affected stakeholders to find ways to assess environmental problems at sites and leverage funding mechanisms to clean them up and return them to productive use. EPA has helped over 300 communities nationwide leverage nearly $1.9 billion to clean up and redevelop such properties, fostering creation of nearly 6,000 jobs in the process.