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DPL gets $550K funding
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Posted on May 13 2006
The Department of Public Lands was awarded Friday a Brownsfields grant worth $550,000 by the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX.
In a statement yesterday, EPA regional administrator Dean Higuchi announced that the CNMI government agency would be receiving a $350,000 and a $200,000 grant to conduct assessments for hazardous substances and petroleum contamination.
“Today’s grants will help speed the cleanup and redevelopment of properties, providing jobs and helping revitalize neighborhoods,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region administrator Wayne Nastri.
The Brownsfields program enables communities to develop idle land into productive community assets of the CNMI.
Aside from using the funds for assessments of hazardous substances and petroleum contamination, the money will also be used to inventory sites with potential petroleum contamination around in the CNMI.
Higuchi also said that the fund would also be to perform environmental site assessments.
In addition, the funds should also be used to produce cleanup and redevelopment plans for the 153 acre Marpi Village Homestead site. Lastly, the funds should be used for community outreach and involvement activities.
“The Brownsfields program encourages turning America’s estimated 450,000 problem properties to productive community use. Since the beginning of the Brownsfields 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,” the EPA said.
Moreover, adding to industrial and commercial redevelopment, Brownsfields approaches have included the conversion of industrial waterfronts to riverfront parks, landfills to golf courses, rail corridors to recreational trails, and gas stations to housing.
EPA’s Brownsfields assistance has leveraged more than $8.2 billion in private investment, helped create 37,525 jobs and resulted in the assessment of 8,374 properties and the cleanup of 93 properties.
For more information on the grant visit www.epa.gov/brownsfields.
