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PR EPA AWARDS BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT GRANT TO MILWAUKEE

Release Date: 02/14/97
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PR EPA AWARDS BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT GRANT TO MILWAUKEE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEB. 14, 1997

EPA AWARDS BROWNFIELDS REDEVELOPMENT GRANT TO MILWAUKEE

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a $200,000 pilot grant to help clean up and redevelop a five-mile stretch of active railroad property in Milwaukee's 30th Street Industrial Corridor. The grant money will help the community clean up "brownfields" -- lightly contaminated urban industrial sites -- so they can be returned to productive community use. Under the Clinton Administration's Brownfields Program, 78 pilot project grants have been awarded, totaling $13.2 million to date and an additional 25 projects will be selected for grants later this year. EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner said, "The Brownfields program is a cornerstone of the Clinton Administration's efforts to help our nation's cities in ways that make economic and environmental sense. Our Brownfields Initiative is working across the country, bringing new investment, helping create jobs, and restoring hope and opportunity to urban communities."

"The city, county and 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corp. jointly sought this grant to help spur development that will create and retain jobs. By awarding us this grant, the EPA and Clinton Administration are recognizing the value of this area to businesses, residents and workers," said Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist.

"With this grant, the EPA is now a partner in the effort to clean up old industrial sites in Milwaukee," said Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament. "Milwaukee County is eager to work with all levels of government and the private sector to return these brownfields to productive use and create new jobs in the process."

Milwaukee County, in partnership with the 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corp. and the City of Milwaukee, was selected to receive this pilot over two years. Approximately 3,800 people live along the five-mile stretch of active rail lines. Between 1972 and 1990, the Corridor lost 59 percent of its manufacturing jobs. Industry and real estate development representatives have cited the uncertainty over environmental conditions at properties located within the Corridor, such as leaking underground storage tanks, as a factor that significantly affects redevelopment efforts. EPA's Brownfields grants are intended to help communities and local businesses address and remove barriers to redevelopment, such as uncertainty and liability concerns, so that cleanup and development can move forward.

The grant money will be used to assess contamination, involve community residents in future land use planning, resolve liability concerns and serve as a model for other communities seeking effective redevelopment approaches. As part of the Milwaukee Brownfields pilot, the county, city and the 30th Street Industrial Corridor Corp. plan to identify, buy, clean up, redevelop and resell properties (the first one in just 20 months); establish a self-supporting revolving fund for continued cleanups; and conduct community outreach.

In addition, EPA also has awarded the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) a $200,000 grant to conduct environmental assessments of abandoned, tax delinquent or bankrupt properties at 12 sites in 11 Wisconsin cities, totaling 210 acres. The WDNR will contribute an additional $150,000 to address community health issues, property marketability and long-term environmental liability implications. Upon completion, communities will be able to focus their efforts toward cleanup and redevelopment.

The goal of EPA's Brownfields Initiative is to yield economic benefits and protect the environment by encouraging development on existing industrial sites, rather than in undeveloped areas. It is designed to empower states, local government and communities to develop public/private partnerships that restore abandoned sites to new uses, thereby increasing property values, stimulating tax revenues and revitalizing inner city neighborhoods. The brownfields assessment pilots are intended to be used as seed money to help assess contamination, involve community residents in all aspects of the redevelopment process, leverage other public and private funds, resolve liability issues, spur cleanups and serve as models for other communities seeking effective redevelopment approaches.

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