Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe to receive $300,000 for cleanup and renovation of former sawmills and automotive businesses on the Flathead Reservation
EPA Brownfields grant will be used to assess contamination and develop cleanup plans for properties in Hot Springs, Polson, Pablo and Ravalli
Ravalli, Mont. -- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that the Confederate Salish and Kootenai Tribe (CSKT) will receive a $300,000 Brownfields grant to conduct environmental site assessments and develop cleanup and reuse plans on priority properties in the towns of Hot Springs, Polson, Pablo and Ravalli, Montana within the Flathead Reservation. These sites include abandoned sawmills and former fuel and auto repair businesses.
CSKT is among 151 communities nationwide selected to receive a total of 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in EPA Brownfields funding through the agency’s Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grant programs. This funding will support underserved and economically disadvantaged communities across the country in assessing and cleaning up contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial properties. Approximately 50 percent of selected recipients will be receiving EPA Brownfields Grant funding for the first time and more than 85 percent are located in or serving small communities.
“EPA is pleased to support the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe as they address contamination at targeted properties in communities throughout the Flathead Indian Reservation,” said Mark A. Smith, EPA Region 8 director of the Land, Chemicals, and Redevelopment Division. “Completing these assessments will help advance the Tribes’ plans to reconnect these properties as assets that contribute to the larger Tribal economy.”
"This needed grant will allow the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes the ability to assess brownfield sites throughout the exterior boundaries of the Flathead Indian Reservation and determine the extent of damage to our lands," said Rich Janssen, the Tribes Natural Resources Department Head. "Not only will it help us as Tribes, it will help all residents who call the Reservation home by beginning the process of cleaning up these sites."
CSKT will use the EPA funds to focus on assessment and reuse planning of the largest abandoned sawmills on the Reservation and former fueling and auto repair businesses in the towns of Hot Springs and Ravalli. These large mills include the Polson Mill, Pablo Mill and the former Flathead Post & Pole site. Additional priority sites include Spring Creek properties in Hot Springs and the former Ravalli Cash Store. Grant funds will also be used for community outreach activities associated with these projects.
The Tribes’ strategy for brownfields redevelopment is to reuse sites and reduce blight in low-income communities with tourism potential. The large mill sites are in close proximity to existing housing and infrastructure near the center of each of the two largest towns on the Reservation. Contaminants of concern at these locations include dioxins, fuels, PCBs, solvents and wood treatment chemicals in surface soil. Assessment and cleanup of the Polson Mill property provides an opportunity to turn an unused property into a safe park connected to a residential neighborhood. The assessment and cleanup of the Pablo Mill will facilitate planned reuse as a business park.
The list of the fiscal year 2021 applicants selected for funding is available here: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicants-selected-fy-2021-brownfields-multipurpose-assessment-and-cleanup-grants
EPA anticipates that it will award the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the selected recipients.
Background
Since its inception in 1995, EPA's Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. This has led to significant benefits for communities across the country. For example,
· To date, communities participating in the Brownfields Program have been able to attract more than $34.4 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding after receiving Brownfields funds. This has led to over 175,500 jobs in cleanup, construction and redevelopment.
· Based on grant recipient reporting, recipients leveraged on average $20.13 for each EPA Brownfields dollar and 10.3 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.
· In addition, an academic peer-reviewed study has found that residential properties near brownfield sites increased in value by 5% to 15.2% as a result of cleanup activities.
· Finally, analyzing data near 48 brownfields, EPA found an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue for local governments in a single year after cleanup—2 to 7 times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfield sites.
For more on the Brownfields Grants: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/types-epa-brownfield-grant-funding
For more on EPA’s Brownfields Program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields