EPA provides $400,000 to Baltimore to assess brownfields properties for redevelopment

EPA Press Release:

EPA provides $400,000 to Baltimore

to assess brownfields properties for redevelopment

BALTIMORE, Md. (June 10, 2013) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced $400,000 in brownfields assessment funding to the Baltimore Development Corporation,  the city’s economic development agency, to identify and assess potentially contaminated sites for clean-up and redevelopment. 

EPA selected the Baltimore Development Corporation to receive two brownfields grants, one for $200,000 to address sites with hazardous substances and another for $200,000 to assess sites with petroleum contamination. 

“EPA’s brownfields funding is an important catalyst for urban revitalization, and EPA is proud to be a long-standing partner in Baltimore’s brownfields efforts to transform vacant properties back to beneficial use,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin.  “We are pleased to support positive efforts like this to build healthy and vibrant communities.” 

Regional Administrator Garvin was joined by federal, state and city officials at a press conference today at 1111 Light Street, a $35 million redevelopment project on a former one-acre brownfields site in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood.  In 2006, EPA provided a similar brownfields assessment grant that helped lead to development of this site. 

“I want to thank EPA for its commitment to Baltimore.  EPA funding has always been a cornerstone of our brownfields program, administered through the Baltimore Development Corporation,” said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.  “These new assessment grants will ensure the program’s continued success in helping to revitalize our city by supporting new investments and jobs.”

The grants will support the city’s efforts to redevelop its Main Streets Districts so that abandoned property can be redeveloped with housing, local shops and services.

"Today's grants from EPA provide vital resources to improve the health and safety of Baltimore's communities,” said U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.  “The clean-up and redevelopment of local brownfields will help to create jobs, spur economic growth and improve the local environment, making Baltimore a cleaner, healthier place to live and work."

Since 1995, EPA has awarded the City of Baltimore, including the Baltimore Development Corporation, with $1.6 million in brownfields grant funding.

“These grants will facilitate a tremendous partnership between government, private citizens, and businesses that create jobs, protect our environment, and revitalize neighborhoods in the heart of Baltimore,” said Congressman John Sarbanes.  “This funding will transform underused and environmentally hazardous sites and turn them into a vibrant spaces where people will live, work, and enjoy our great city.”

EPA’s brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.