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EPA: $200,000 in Grants for Contaminated Land Cleanup, Economic Development in Oregon

Release Date: 05/08/2009
Contact Information: Sylvia Kawabata, EPA/Seattle 206-553-1078, [email protected]; Mark MacIntyre, EPA/Seattle 206-553-7302, [email protected]

[Portland, Ore. – May 8, 2009] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today the availability of an estimated $200,000 in grants to help communities in Oregon clean up sites known as “brownfields” which may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants. The grants are from the EPA brownfields general program funding, and will help revitalize former industrial and commercial sites, turning them from problem properties to productive community use.

“Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near brownfields communities,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “A revitalized brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, creates green jobs, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

“This Brownfields funding will help make more redevelopment a reality in Oregon,” said Michelle Pirzadeh, acting EPA Regional Administrator in Seattle, Washington. “We’re excited to join with our tribal, public and private partners to revitalize blighted properties, create more green jobs and protect public health in Oregon.”

The applicant selected to receive brownfields general program funds is:

Portland Development Commission – $200,000 – Hazardous Substance Cleanup Grant
The Portland Development Commission will use these brownfields grant funds to clean up the Gateway Neighborhood Park at 10506-10512 and 10520 NE Halsey Street. The 4.2-acre site was formerly a dry cleaner and a bowling alley, and is contaminated with perchloroethene and trichloroethene. Grant funds also will be used to support community outreach activities.

The grants will help to assess, cleanup 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. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.

Additional information on the EPA Region 10 brownfields recipients and their projects is available at:
https://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/bf