EPA Awards 9 Brownfields Grants Totaling $3.9 Million To PA Communities

On June 5, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $3.9 million in funding for 9 Brownfields grants in Pennsylvania.  

These are nine of the 149 communities selected to receive 151 grant awards totaling $64,623,553 million in EPA Brownfields funding through our Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs.

These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities in opportunity zones and other parts of the country in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industrial and commercial properties.

The nine Brownfields projects in Pennsylvania include:

-- The Dauphin County Redevelopment Authority will receive will receive $300,000 to conduct environmental site assessments, prepare cleanup plans, and conduct community meetings. Grant funds also will be used to inventory and prioritize sites and conduct additional community involvement activities. Assessment activities will focus on the Pennsylvania State Hospital in Susquehanna Township, the City of Harrisburg, and the Lykens School in the Borough of Lykens.

-- Earth Conservancy in Hanover Township, Luzerne County will receive $500,000 to clean up the Bliss Bank – Phase V site in Hanover Township. The 200-acre site formerly was used for anthracite mining operations and has been unused and abandoned since 1976. The site is mine-scarred land contaminated with sulfide minerals that produce acid mine drainage, which has damaged the Espy Run stream that used to flow through the site. Grant funds also will be used for community outreach activities.

-- The Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County in Meadville will receive $200,000

to conduct environmental site assessment of the Bessemer Site at 789 Bessemer Street in Meadville. The 11-acre site was a maintenance facility for the railroad and had a documented release of heating oil in 1979. Grant funds also will be used for cleanup and reuse planning activities, coordinating community planning meetings, and providing media outlet updates.

-- The Erie County Industrial Development Authority will receive $526,000 to conduct environmental site assessments and prepare cleanup plans. The assessments will target seven priority sites in Erie County. Grant funds also will be used to update a brownfields inventory, develop a GIS database and mapping materials, and conduct community outreach activities. Coalition partners are the Redevelopment Authority in the City of Corry and the Enterprise Development Center of Erie County Inc.

-- Lackawanna County will receive $600,000 to conduct up to 25 environmental site assessments and complete cleanup plans for at least 10 sites. Grant funds also will be used to identify new sites to be added to the existing site inventory and conduct community outreach activities. The target areas include the former industrial and manufacturing hubs of Scranton, Old Forge, and Carbondale and mine-scarred sites throughout the county. Coalition partners are the Redevelopment Authority of Lackawanna County and the City of Scranton.

-- The North Side Industrial Development Company in Allegheny County will receive $600,000 to conduct environmental site assessments and to develop reuse plans for three neighborhoods. The target area includes Pittsburgh, Duquesne, and other industrial river towns in the county. Coalition partners are the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County, and the City of Duquesne.

-- The Penn-Northwest Development Corporation in Sharon and Farrell in Mercer County will receive $600,000 to conduct environmental site assessments. Grant funds will be used to conduct community outreach activities. Coalition partners are the Cities of Sharon and Farrell, which are the target areas for this grant.

-- The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority will receive $300,000 to conduct environmental site assessments, to develop a GIS database inventory of brownfield sites, prepare at least six cleanup plans, and conduct community outreach activities.

-- The Redevelopment Authority of the City of Harrisburg will receive $300,000 to conduct environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to conduct a brownfields inventory, conduct cleanup and reuse planning activities, and develop an area-wide plan for the Derry Street Transit-Oriented Development Area and Cameron Street Corridor, the target areas for this grant.

For more information on EPA funding opportunities, visit EPA’s Brownfields Grant Funding webpage.

For information on Pennsylvania’s brownfields programs, visit DEP’s Brownfields webpage.