Spokane Selected for two $200,000 EPA Brownfields Grants
Julie Happy, 509.625.7773, jhappy@spokanecity.org
Thursday, May 28, 2015 at 2:30 p.m.
The City of Spokane and Northeast Public Development Authority have been selected to receive two additional grants from the EPA to help clean up contaminated sites, or ‘brownfields,’ in the Hillyard Industrial Area. The brownfields assessment grants amount to $200,000 each – one for hazardous substances, and one for petroleum. The grants are another big boost in the City’s plans to revitalize Northeast Spokane.
The EPA’s Brownfields Program supports both urban and rural communities in their efforts to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Spokane is one of 147 communities across the U.S. to receive the EPA brownfields grants announced Thursday.
“Right now is really an exciting time as we look to the future of Northeast Spokane and the YARD, in particular,” said Mayor David Condon. “The opportunity to clean up and re-use brownfields is huge. We are confident these grants will help jump-start redevelopment in the Hillyard area.”
The City will use the funding to conduct a series of environmental site assessments, create a site inventory and prioritization report, and conduct community outreach activities.
With the two latest grant awards, The EPA has now awarded three brownfields grants to Spokane this year. On March 9, 2015, the City was selected for a $200,000 Brownfields Area-Wide Planning (AWP) grant from the EPA.
The City continues efforts to work with the community and other stakeholders to address contamination and position the Hillyard Industrial Area for redevelopment. This area once housed a thriving industrial center that was built around a freight rail yard and included steam engine manufacturing, maintenance and repair facilities. The rail yard closed in the 1960’s and the property deteriorated.
The City’s key partners for the effort include the Hillyard Neighborhood Council, the Greater Hillyard Business Association, the Organizations of Northeast Spokane, Greater Spokane Incorporated, Spokane Regional Health District and the Washington State Departments of Commerce, Transportation and Ecology.
