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EPA awards Standing Rock Sioux $400K to revitalize Fort Yates properties

Release Date: 04/20/2010
Contact Information: Daniel Heffernan, 303-312-7074; Richard Mylott, 303-312-6654

Museum and housing units part of a bright future for Old Stockade and former Teachers Quarters

(Denver, Colorado – April 20, 2010) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe $400,000 for projects to revitalize two historic properties in Fort Yates.
"Strengthening our nation’s Tribal communities is one of EPA’s top priorities,” said Carol Rushin, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator in Denver. "These grants will help the Standing Rock Sioux turn the page on two historically contaminated properties and will create new cultural and economic opportunities for Tribal members.”

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will receive two brownfields cleanup grants totaling $400,000 to clean up the Old Stockade Building and the Old Teachers Quarters in Fort Yates. The Old Stockade Building, built around 1898, is the only remaining structure of the original military fort. The Old Teachers Quarters, constructed in 1935, burned down in 2008. Both properties are contaminated with inorganic contaminants and metals.

Cleanup of the Fort Yates sites will reduce health, environmental, and safety hazards; provide cleanup jobs for tribal members; and improve the aesthetics of the area. Once cleaned, the tribe plans to restore the Old Stockade Building as a historic site with a museum to hold tribal artifacts. The tribe also plans to construct housing at the site of the Old Teachers Quarters.

Nationwide, EPA is providing $78.9 million for brownfields projects in communities in 40 states, four tribes, and one U.S. Territory. This funding will be used for the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of properties, including abandoned gas stations, old textile mills, closed smelters, and other abandoned industrial and commercial properties.

In total, EPA is awarding 304 grants through the Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grants programs:

· 188 assessment grants, totaling $42.56 million, will conduct site assessment and planning for cleanup at one or more brownfields sites as part of a community-wide effort.

· 17 revolving loan fund grants, totaling $17 million, will provide loans and subgrants for communities to begin cleanup activities at brownfields sites. Revolving loan funds are generally used to provide low interest loans for brownfields cleanups.

· 99 cleanup grants, totaling $19.36 million, will provide funding for grant recipients to carryout cleanup activities at brownfield sites they own.

The brownfields program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated sites. As of March 2010, EPA’s brownfields assistance has leveraged more than $14 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding, and 61,277 jobs in cleanup, construction, and redevelopment. Many of these investments target under-served and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, providing for much needed jobs, jumpstarting businesses and reducing environmental and human health risks.

More information on the FY 2010 grant recipients: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

More information on EPA’s brownfields program: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

Brownfields success stories: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/success/index.htm