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EPA Gives Mifflin County 200K to Redevelop Brownfields

Release Date: 6/21/1999
Contact Information: Mifflin County 717-248-6733 & Regional Brownfields Team 215-814-3246

PHILADELPHIA -- Mifflin County is one of 57 recipients nationwide, each to receive a $200,000 grant today from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up and redevelop brownfields -- abandoned industrial properties where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination.

"Brownfields grants empower those groups interested in economic redevelopment to bring life and economic vitality back to a community. The long-term benefits will include new jobs, an increased tax base, and a better partnership between public and private sectors. Reuse of brownfields also preserves open space, or greenfields," said EPA Regional Administrator W. Michael McCabe.

Mifflin County was chosen as a recipient because the rural county, located in south-central Pennsylvania, has many abandoned and dilapidated buildings. The county played an central role in the region’s transportation and manufacturing history with large iron-ore mining, iron fabrication, and cloth and shirt-making industries.

Today Mifflin county has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, a result of manufacturing plant closings and subsequent economic downturn in the wake of large-scale flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes.

Mifflin County intends to develop a comprehensive strategy to promote environmental and economic sustainability. This strategy will build on the extensive community involvement that has recently been developed through the EPA’s Green Communities program. The two-track brownfields pilot project will focus its efforts on four to six properties, using the grant money to:

* Perform assessments at the targeted sites;

* Prepare cleanup and redevelopment plans for the sites;

* Conduct site-specific and county-wide community outreach activities, including public forums, interviews, press releases, a newsletter; and

* Identify and prioritize other potential brownfields sites through research and community input.

Congress has recognized the relationship between protecting greenfields and redeveloping brownfields. Legislation will soon be introduced to offer "Better America Bonds," making it easier for state and local governments to offset the cost of purchasing open land in order to preserve it. They could issue nearly $10 billion in bonds, pay no interest and take up to 15 years to pay back the principal. Investors who buy the bonds receive tax credits from the federal government equal to the amount of interest.

"Sometimes, the best way for a community to ensure that it retains a certain amount of open space is to purchase that space, outright. Better America bonds will help make that possible for communities on tight budgets," said McCabe.

The EPA also awarded brownfields grants to several other local communities today, including Delaware County, Luzerne and Lackawanna County and Montgomery County. Call the above contact for more information on these and other brownfields grants.


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