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Two Allegheny County Agencies Receive Brownfields Grants

Release Date: 6/25/2003
Contact Information: David Sternberg, (215) 814- 5548

David Sternberg, (215) 814- 5548

PHILADELPHIA - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected two Allegheny County Agencies to receive brownfield assessment grants.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh will receive a $150,000 brownfields assessment grant. The funds will be used to assess petroleum contaminated sites in the Pittsburgh/Allegheny enterprise community for cleanup, rejuvenation and redevelopment.

The West-to-West Coalition of Allegheny County will receive $300,000 to assess contaminated sites in McKeesport, Clairton, Rankin and Braddock. The West-to-West Coalition is an economic development agency representing communities in the Mon Valley.

“Restoring brownfields to productive use brings enormous benefits to local communities. Experience has shown that every dollar of federal money spent on brownfields leverages about two-and-a-half dollars in private investment, and every acre of brownfields that is restored saves more than 4.5 acres of green space,” said Donald S. Welsh, EPA regional administrator for the mid-Atlantic region.

The funds are being made available under the brownfields legislation signed into law by President Bush on January 11, 2002 in Conshohocken, Pa. The Brownfields Revitalization Act, authorizes up to $250 million in funds annually for brownfields grants, including up to $50 million for the assessment and cleanup of low-risk petroleum contaminated sites. Brownfields are real property, the expansion or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant.

The assessment grants are used to inventory, characterize and conduct planning relating to one or more brownfield sites or as part of a community- wide effort. The 2002 law expanded the definition of what’s considered a brownfield, so communities may now focus on sites contaminated with petroleum, as well as lands scarred by mining. Since the beginning of the Brownfields program, EPA has awarded 436 assessment grants totaling over $120 million.

The brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America's 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites. Redevelopment approaches have included the conversion of industrial waterfronts to river-front parks, landfills to golf courses, and rail corridors to recreational trails.

Currently, more than 44 different brownfields-to-greenspace projects (such as parks, trails and nature preserves) are in various stages of completion. The brownfields program provides funding incentives, feasibility tools, and individual grants up to $1,000,000 to help States, tribes, communities and other organizations prevent, assess, safely clean up, and reuse Brownfields. EPA's Brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $4.6 billion in private investment, helped create more than 20,000 jobs and resulted in the assessment of more than 4,000 properties. For more information, go to https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/.