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EPA Grants to Help Revitalize City of Ocala and Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency in Florida

Release Date: 05/12/2006
Contact Information: Laura Niles, 404-562-8353, [email protected]

(ATLANTA – May 12, 2006) The city of Ocala and the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency in Florida have been named as successful applicants of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields grants that promote the redevelopment of abandoned and contaminated or potentially contaminated waste sites. The combined total of Brownfields grant funds for assessment of properties in Florida will be $400,000.

Ocala will receive $200,000 in assessment grant funds for community outreach activities and environmental assessments at sites in the Downtown and North Magnolia Community Redevelopment Areas and the West Ocala Historic District. The Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency will receive $200,000 in grant funds to update the city’s inventory of Brownfield sites, conduct environmental site assessments of petroleum sites and develop cleanup plans for properties in the Lake Worth Redevelopment area, a 518-acre area of land in the Lake Worth community.

In the Southeast, 22 applicants were selected to receive grants for assessment or cleanup of properties. Nationally, communities in 44 states and two territories, as well as three tribes will share $69.9 million in grants to help transform community eyesores into community gems. Since the beginning of the brownfields program, EPA has awarded 883 assessment grants totaling $225.4 million, 202 revolving loan fund grants totaling $186.7 million, and 238 cleanup grants totaling $42.7 million.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In January 2002, President Bush signed the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act, which authorizes up to $250 million in funds annually for brownfields grants. The 2002 law expanded the definition of what is considered a brownfield, so communities may now focus on mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs.

More information on the grant recipients in the Southeast and throughout the nation: epa.gov/brownfields/archive/pilot_arch.htm

More information on the Brownfields program: epa.gov/brownfields