Oklahoma City Gains E.P.A. Investment Grant

Category: Hazardous Waste
Type: News
Source: EPA
Date: Thursday, May 28th, 2015

DALLAS - (May 28, 2015) Today, the E.P.A. announced Oklahoma City is one of 146 communities across the country to be awarded a total of $54.3 million in investment grants. These grants will provide communities with backing to assess, clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment. The city's Metropolitan Area Plans (MAPS) plan will gain 3 grants totaling $600,000 to assess hazardous waste sites.

"Brownfields sites are community assets that can foster economic development by reuse and involve community members in the process," said E.P.A. Regional Administrator Ron Curry. "We are pleased to equip communities with the tools to address environmental challenges in their neighborhoods."

The backing will help Oklahoma City assess and cleanup brownfields sites, which are abandoned sites that are difficult to redevelop because of the presence or potential presence of contamination. The MAPS plan received 3 grants of $200,000 each to assess sites in the northern park zone.

Since its inception in 1995, EPA's brownfields plan has leveraged in excess of $22 billion from a variety of public and private sources for cleanup and redevelopment activities. This equates to an average of $17.79 leveraged per E.P.A. brownfield dollar expended. These investments have resulted in approximately 105,942 jobs nationwide. EPA's Brownfields Plan empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields sites.

More about the Brownfields Plan in E.P.A. Region 6:

http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/brownfields/

Connect with E.P.A. Region 6:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eparegion6

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/EPAregion6

Activities in E.P.A. Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.htm