Biden-Harris Administration Announces $4 Million Through Investing in America Agenda for Cleanup and Technical Assistance at Polluted Brownfield Sites in Georgia
EPA announces the largest investment ever in brownfields communities made by President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda
ATLANTA (May 25, 2023) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $4 Million from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites in Georgia while advancing environmental justice.
EPA selected four recipients in Georgia to receive $4 Million in competitive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this is the largest ever funding awarded in the history of the EPA’s Brownfields MARC Grant programs.
These investments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
“We’re working across the country to revitalize what were once dangerous and polluted sites in overburdened communities into more sustainable and environmentally just places that serve as community assets. Thanks to President Biden’s historic investments in America, we’re moving further and faster than ever before to clean up contaminated sites, spur economic redevelopment, and deliver relief that so many communities have been waiting for,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “This critical wave of investments is the largest in Brownfields history and will accelerate our work to protect the people and the planet by transforming what was once blight into might.”
“This historic investment of more than $35 million for communities across the Southeast will help address suspected contamination of urban and suburban properties that dates back to the Industrial Revolution," said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman. "Brownfields and other contaminated properties often are located in environmental justice communities where residents are disproportionately impacted, thus making these awards especially critical."
“As a preacher, I believe we are all called to be good stewards of our planet and its resources, so as a public servant, I was proud to champion the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and its critical investments in cleaning up communities across Georgia that have been impacted by industrial waste,” said U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock. “We know that historically disadvantaged communities bear the brunt of the public health and economic downfalls posed by contaminant exposure; these investments are an important next step in alleviating these risks and creating a safer, healthier Georgia for all.”
“Above all this is about our communities’ health,” U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff said. “Senator Warnock and I are delivering these historic public health and environmental cleanup efforts across Georgia. I thank President Biden, Administrator Regan, and Southeast Regional Administrator Blackman for their support. No family in Georgia should live in fear of contaminants in their communities.”
“For too long, Whittier Mill Village residents have been unable to enjoy the full potential of their neighborhood because of the mess left behind by the Chattahoochee Brick Site. After decades of work to remediate the site, the work still isn’t done,” said U.S. Representative Nikema Williams (GA-05). “With this $2,000,000 grant from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can partner with the community to find the best way to finish the job.”
Many communities that are under economic stress, particularly those located in areas that have experienced long periods of disinvestment, lack the resources needed to initiate brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects. As brownfield sites are transformed into community assets, they attract jobs, promote economic revitalization, and transform communities into sustainable and environmentally just places.
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields Program is helping more communities than ever before begin to address the economic, social, and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity, and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
EPA’s Brownfields Program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments to disadvantaged communities. The Brownfields Program strives to meet this commitment and advance environmental justice and equity considerations into all aspects of its work. Approximately 84 percent of the MARC program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include historically underserved communities.
State Funding Breakdown:
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Program Selection
The following organizations in Georgia have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Programs.
- Adrian, Ga. has been selected to receive $500,000 Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct ten Phase I and five Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to inventory sites, develop five cleanup plans, and support community outreach activities. The target area for this grant is Downtown Adrian. Priority sites include an abandoned grocery store and a former sawmill that contains abandoned fuel storage sites.
- Atlanta, Ga. has been selected to receive $2,000,000 Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the Chattahoochee Brick Company site, which consists of three parcels at the intersection of Parrott Ave NW and Brick Plant Road NW. The cleanup site operated a brick-making factory from 1878 to 2010 when site operations were decommissioned, and site buildings were demolished. The site is littered with demolition debris, defective bricks, waste generated from the brick-making process, and battery carcass fragments. A large amount of contaminated fill also was placed in the Proctor Creek floodplain near the back of the site. The site is contaminated with volatile organic contaminants, heavy metals, and petroleum products. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities that will include up to eight stakeholder committee meetings; six community meetings; and ten presentations at neighborhood and partner meetings.
- Perry, Ga. has been selected to receive $500,000 Cleanup Grant. Grant funds will be used to clean up the 1.4-acre Stanley Assemblage property at 0-1107 Macon Road and 1102-1104 Meeting Street. The cleanup site historically supported residential dwellings from the 1930s until it was redeveloped with a commercial shopping center in the 1960s, which included the Stanley Furniture store, a dry-cleaning facility, and a gas station. It is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community engagement activities including the development of one Community Involvement Plan.
- Savannah, Ga. has been selected to receive $1,000,000 Revolving Fund Grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which the City of Savannah will provide up to four loans and two subgrants to support cleanup activities. Grant funds also will be used to support community engagement including four dedicated RLF program meetings a year. RLF activities will target the entire city with a focus on the communities immediately surrounding the historic district, which are home to many sensitive populations that are disproportionately subject to higher poverty rates and experience greater health risks from contaminant exposure. Priority sites include the CSX Railroad Properties site on Wheaton Street, the Patel Property on W. Bay Street, and the Pennsylvania Avenue Assemblage property.
You can read more about this year’s MARC selectees, here.
Additional Background:
EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites. EPA anticipates making all the awards announced today once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged more than $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged, from both public and private sources, nearly 260,000 jobs. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leverage an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.
The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on August 8-11, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. Offered every two years, this conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing former commercial and industrial properties. EPA co-sponsors this event with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).
For more on Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-brownfields-grant-funding
For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields