Dakota College at Bottineau, N.D. to receive $358,500 for cleanup and renovation of campus buildings

Bottineau, N.D.  -- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that Dakota College at Bottineau will receive a $358,500 Brownfields grant to clean up contamination at the College’s Old Main and Milligan Hall buildings located at 105 Simrall Boulevard on the Dakota College at Bottineau campus.  

Dakota College at Bottineau is among 151 communities nationwide selected to receive 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 Dakota College at Bottineau’s plans to revitalize these buildings so they may better serve the campus community,” said Mark A. Smith, EPA Region 8 director of Land, Chemicals, and Redevelopment Division. “The renovation of these facilities as state-of-the-art instruction and residence spaces for the College’s growing nursing program will benefit Bottineau and nearby rural communities for many years to come.” 

“This funding will be a tremendous help to us as we address two major campus projects, namely the renovation of our Old Main building and one of our residence halls,” said Dr. Jerry Migler, Dakota College at Bottineau campus dean. “This grant is especially timely as we have just received news that the state legislature has approved our project to renovate Old Main into a Center for Rural Health Education, and the grant funds will help in rectifying the abatement issues that must be corrected before we can begin the project.” 

Dakota College at Bottineau will use the EPA Brownfields grant to remove lead, asbestos and other inorganic contaminants and metals at the Old Main and Milligan Hall buildings. Old Main is a 24,900 square-foot building that housed all administrative and athletic functions for the college and has remained vacant since 2007. Milligan Hall is an 18,877 square-foot residence hall. Grant funds also will be used to conduct community outreach activities, including a community relations plan and public meetings. 

Dakota College at Bottineau intends to renovate the buildings to accommodate student activities, including the reuse of the Old Main building into modern facilities for the College’s growing nursing programs and a new Center for Rural Health Education. Rural areas in North Dakota have been identified as an area of increasing shortage of medical practitioners, including nurses.  

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