DPL gets $750,000 brownfield’s grant for cleanup

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has chosen the Northern Mariana Islands’ Department of Public Lands for a brownfields assessment grant totaling $750,000.

Of the amount, $350,000 will be for Tinian, while $200,000 is for Saipan. The money will be used to evaluate the level of contamination from hazardous substances at 11 sites on the two islands. Another $200,000 will be used specifically to look at 16 petroleum waste sites.

CNMI Rep. Gregorio “Kilili” C. Sablan congratulated DPL for winning one of the competitive grant.

“Not all states and only two of the U.S. insular areas were awarded these grants,” said Sablan. “Congress has made available considerable sums through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the regular appropriations process, but it takes professional work like this in the local government to access the funds.”

The CNMI grant forms part of some $111.9 million in all that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced yesterday, aimed at sites around the country where petroleum, or drugs, or other hazardous chemicals have been improperly disposed of. The assessments are just the first step in cleanup efforts. Afterwards comes the process of removing the dangerous substances from the sites and returning the land to beneficial use.

In addition to the assessment work the grant funds announced yesterday will also be used for health monitoring of young and old and other vulnerable populations in the NMI and to support community involvement in the cleanup.

The grants include $37.3 million from the Recovery Act and $74.6 million from the EPA brownfields general program funding.

“Cleaning and reusing contaminated properties provides the catalyst to improving the lives of residents living in or near brownfields communities,” said Jackson. “A revitalized brownfields site reduces threats to human health and the environment, creates green jobs, promotes community involvement, and attracts investment in local neighborhoods.”

Laura Yoshii, acting Regional Administrator for the U.S. EPA in the Pacific Southwest, said the available funding will clean up distressed properties so they can be productively reused for community benefit

“By revitalizing and restoring neighborhoods nationwide, the EPA continues to put both people and property back to work—creating a better environment and brighter future for the next generation of Americans,” she said.

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 addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.. [B][I](EPA)[/I][/B] [B]ON THE NET[/B] [I]Brownfields cleanup: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/eparecovery/index.htm

EPA Region 9 brownfields recipients: http://cfpub.epa.gov/bf_factsheets/index.cfm[/I]