EPA awards City of Loveland, Colorado $300,000 to support the cleanup and redevelopment of properties
EPA Brownfields grant to advance revitalization of Great Western Sugar Beet Plant and Big Thompson River Corridor sites
Loveland, Colo. -- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing that the City of Loveland, Colorado will receive a $300,000 Brownfields assessment grant to conduct environmental site assessments and advance the reuse of the Great Western Sugar Beet Plant and multiple industrial and commercial sites along the Big Thompson River Corridor.
The City of Loveland 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.
“The City of Loveland has identified over a dozen sites with redevelopment potential that will benefit greatly from environmental assessments to evaluate existing and potential contamination,” said Mark A. Smith, EPA Region 8 director of the Land, Chemicals, and Redevelopment Division. “This EPA grant will identify specific cleanup needs and help the City advance economic redevelopment goals.”
The City of Loveland will use the EPA grant funds to identify and prioritize sites and conduct up to 12 environmental site assessments at targeted properties. Grant funds also will be used to develop cleanup and reuse plans for two sites and conduct community outreach activities. Priority sites include the 31-acre Great Western Sugar Beet Plant and multiple industrial and commercial sites along the Big Thompson River Corridor.
Contaminants of concern at these sites include asbestos, heavy metals, petroleum and volatile organic compounds. Potential redevelopment opportunities include community amenities, such as open spaces, parks, social gathering areas, greenway corridors, and wetland and riparian area restoration. The City envisions the transformation of the Great Western Sugar Beet Plant property into a multi-use, high-quality employment district.
“We are very excited to receive this grant and really look forward to the opportunity this grant provides the Loveland community!” said Chris Carlson, stormwater division manager at the City of Loveland. “We know that it’s an incredibly competitive national selection process with many well-deserving communities unable to be awarded a grant, so we’re both humbled and grateful that we get this opportunity!”
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
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