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EPA grant will help clean up Wiley Cork site in Wilmington

Release Date: 04/07/2008
Contact Information: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

PHILADELPHIA (April 7, 2008) -- Funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfields program will be used to help clean up and install a cap over the Wiley Cork Manufacturing site in Wilmington so that it can be used for potential redevelopment.

"Brownfields initiatives demonstrate how environmental protection and economic development work hand-in-hand. This grant will help bring productive use to a community eyesore that has been unused for years and turn it into an asset that benefits the community, the environment, and the economy," said Donald S. Welsh, administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic region.

EPA announced today that the Bethel Temple Community Development Corporation will receive a $200,000 grant to clean up the Wiley Cork site, 800 East 16th St. The old cork manufacturing facility operated for more than 50 years and is contaminated with hazardous substances. Cleanup of the site is expected to reduce the threat of contamination, ready the site for development and encourage community stakeholders to continue revitalization efforts in the north Wilmington neighborhood.

Wilmington is one of 209 communities nationwide benefitting from more than $74 million in brownfields-related funding. Brownfields are generally abandoned industrial properties where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived contamination. EPA estimates there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land, and both improves and protects the environment.

Brownfields grants continue to serve as the foundation of EPA's brownfields program. These grants support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training activities. Brownfields assessment grants provide funding for brownfield inventories, planning, environmental assessments, and community outreach.

More information on the brownfields program and brownfields grants is available at: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/index.html .