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EPA Invests $400,000 in Fredericksburg for Browfields Cleanup

Release Date: 06/06/2011
Contact Information: Terri White [email protected] 215-814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (June 6, 2011) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today its investment of $400,000 to help the city of Fredericksburg, Va. assess the potential cleanup and rehabilitation of abandoned industrial properties.

“Brownfields initiatives demonstrate how environmental protection and economic development work hand-in-hand,” said Shawn M. Garvin, regional administrator for EPA’s mid-Atlantic region. “Along with generating jobs, this funding will help Fredericksburg reclaim properties that have been unused for years and turn them into assets for the community, the environment, and the economy.”

EPA’s funding to Fredericksburg – consisting of two grants for $200,000 each – will be used to assess abandoned industrial properties that were once used for ammunition manufacturing, iron forging, and industrial factories. Suspected contaminants at these sites may threaten the health of residents, the city’s water supply, and natural habitats. The brownfields assessments are expected to facilitate the city’s plan to connect the Rappahannock River to greenspace, parks, and trails.

EPA’s brownfields program encourages cleanup and redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 brownfields sites. Brownfields grants help to assess, clean and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition.

Since the beginning of the program in 1995, EPA has invested 1,895 assessment grants totaling over $447.6 million, 279 revolving loan fund grants totaling more than $273.1 million, and 752 cleanup grants totaling $140.8 million. Additional information on the EPA brownfields program is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ and additional information on brownfields assessment grant recipients is available at https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/assessment_grants.htm .