EPA Brownfields Funding Helps Remove Environmental Barriers for Construction of All Care Health Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa

EPA Press Release:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

11201 Renner Boulevard, Lenexa, KS 66219

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA Brownfields Funding Helps Remove Environmental Barriers for Construction of All Care Health Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Contact Information: Belinda Young, 913-551-7463, young.belinda@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., Jan. 30, 2013) - U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin and other dignitaries are scheduled to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, January 31, for the All Care Health Center (ACHC), a new $5.6 million community health clinic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The facility stands on a former railroad and residential area that was cleared for redevelopment in 2006 after the City of Council Bluffs used funds from a $400,000 EPA Brownfields grant to assess the property.

Located at 900 South 6^th Street in Council Bluffs, the construction site was assessed for potential hazardous substance and petroleum contamination. EPA Brownfields funding helped remove environmental barriers on the property, allowing construction to proceed.

As a result, the All Care Health Center (formerly the Council Bluffs Community Health Center) will have a new 18,015-square-foot facility that includes medical and dental exam rooms, a pharmacy, surface parking, and space for additional behavioral health providers. The All Care Health Center expects to serve nearly 8,000 patients.

The All Care Health Center’s Open House and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 31.

EPA’s Brownfields program provides funding to assist with the assessment and redevelopment of environmentally contaminated properties. Brownfield sites can include residential, commercial and industrial properties. It is estimated that there are more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, and takes development pressures off undeveloped, open land while improving and protecting the environment.

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