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EPA Announces $1.8 million in Grants to Clean Up Contaminated Sites in St. Paul; State to Receive a total of $2,650,000 in Grants and Loans

Release Date: 06/06/2012
Contact Information: Joshua Singer, 312-353-5069, [email protected] Francisco Arcaute, 312-886-7613, [email protected]

For Immediate Release No. 12-OPA 045

(CHICAGO – June 6, 2012) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Susan Hedman today joined Mayor Chris Coleman and Port President Louis Jambois at the new River of Goods and Terrybear building to announce $1.8 million in grants to redevelop contaminated properties, create jobs and protect public health in St. Paul. These EPA “brownfield grants” will be used by St. Paul and the St. Paul Port Authority to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties.

"EPA's brownfield grants will help clean up contaminated sites in St. Paul so that they can be used again," said EPA Region 5 Administrator Susan Hedman. “The grants will help to revitalize neighborhoods and help businesses create jobs.”

St. Paul will receive a $200,000 brownfield grant to clean up the Trillium Central site at 179 E. Maryland Ave. The site was part of a rail yard from the late 1800s through the 1970s and included several storage structures and storage areas. It is contaminated with petroleum compounds from years of petroleum storage, handling and transfer operations. The Trillium Central site represents 8.7 acres of the city’s proposed 45-acre Trillium Nature Sanctuary.

"In St. Paul, we've seen how investing in revitalizing brownfields has paid off. By taking underutilized sites and transforming them into useful, productive spaces, formerly polluted and abandoned land can again be a prosperous part of our city," Mayor Chris Coleman said.

The St. Paul Port Authority will receive $1.6 million in brownfield grants. The Port Authority will use $400,000 for environmental assessments in areas that are targeted for redevelopment around the city. Two cleanup grants of $200,000 each will focus efforts to clean up hazardous substance in soil and soil gas at two former 3M Corp. parcels at or near 900 Bush Ave. Both sites were used for industrial and commercial purposes from the late 1800s through 2009. Soil and ground water at both sites are contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, diesel range organics and volatile organic compounds. When 3M Corp relocated from its main campus to the neighboring suburb of Maplewood, the Port Authority took over redevelopment of the 46-acre site.

An $800,000 supplemental Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund grant will help the Port Authority continue to provide low-interest loans for the cleanup of brownfield sites. The Port Authority has been successfully preparing properties for redevelopment with Revolving Loan Fund grants since 2003, with an emphasis on creating and keeping jobs.

"Brownfield redevelopment is a partnership process. It requires participation of every level of government and the private sector to be successful," Jambois said. "We're very appreciative of the EPA's energy and commitment to redeveloping core cities.”

The St. Paul grants are part of the EPA’s $69.3 million 2012 nationwide brownfields grants. Since 2003, EPA has awarded $13 million to St. Paul.

See a list of all awarded brownfields grants by state: https://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/

More information on EPA’s brownfields program: www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More information on brownfields success stories: www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm