EPA Brownfields grant to support environmental assessment and revitalization projects in Price, Helper, Wellington and East Carbon
Carbon County
Seth Oveson
seth.oveson@carbon.utah.gov
435-636-3273
DENVER – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is providing Carbon County, Utah with $600,000 in Brownfields grant funding to assess, clean up and revitalize properties in the communities of Price, Helper, Wellington and East Carbon.
Carbon County is among 144 grant recipients across the nation receiving EPA Brownfields Environmental Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grants. The 221 grants totaling $54.3 million will provide communities with funding to assess, clean up and redevelop underutilized properties while protecting public health and the environment.
Carbon County will use the EPA grant funds as part of a coalition with the Cities of Price, Helper, Wellington and East Carbon focused on revitalizing derelict buildings, old salvage yards, landfills, railyards, gas stations, and mine-impacted properties. Priority sites in Price include downtown properties containing leaking underground storage tanks, a former lumber mill, and an abandoned retail site. Sites in Helper include underground storage tanks and an old landfill. Properties targeted in Wellington include gas stations and a former lumber mill. Potential contaminants of concern at these sites include petroleum compounds, heavy metals, PCBs, solvents, and acids. The assessment and cleanup of these properties will address potential health risks and encourage investments in new business and employment opportunities.
“EPA’s Brownfields Program expands the ability of communities to recycle vacant and abandoned properties for new, productive reuses, using existing infrastructure,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These grants leverage other public and private investments, and improve local economies through property cleanup and redevelopment.”
“Community leaders in Carbon County are working hard to revitalize and encourage new investments in their downtown business districts,” said EPA Regional Administrator Doug Benevento. “EPA will continue to support these efforts to address environmental contamination and get properties back into productive use.”
The Brownfields Program targets communities that are economically disadvantaged and provides funding and assistance to transform contaminated sites into assets that can generate jobs and spur economic growth. A study analyzing 48 brownfields sites found that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two-to-seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of these sites. Another study found that property values of homes located near brownfields sites that are cleaned up increased between 5 and 15 percent post cleanup.
Communities can use EPA Brownfields funding to leverage considerable infrastructure and other financial resources. For example, EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund can be used to address the water quality aspects of brownfield sites and the assessment and construction of drinking water infrastructure on brownfields, respectively. EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program may also serve as a potential source of long-term, low-cost supplemental financing to fund brownfields project development and implementation activities to address water quality aspects of brownfields.