5/13/2005
Media Contact:
Justin Ohlemiller, DMD [317] 327-6709 |
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City's brownfields program gets boost with $200,000 EPA grant
Indianapolis – The City of Indianapolis' brownfields program was awarded a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mayor Bart Peterson and Congresswoman Julia Carson announced today.
Indianapolis was one of only two cities in Indiana to receive the EPA grant.
The grant will be used to conduct environmental site assessments in three neighborhoods in Center Township, including properties in Fall Creek Place, sites adjacent to LaSalle Park, and properties near the Monon Trail Greenway. These assessments will help locate any possible contamination, clearing the way for clean-up work to take place that will encourage redevelopment of the properties, including a planned commercial development at 2460 N. Delaware in Fall Creek Place.
"Redeveloping brownfields is an important part of protecting the health and safety of our residents, as well as spurring economic development in neighborhoods that need it most," said Mayor Peterson. "We are grateful to the EPA for supporting our efforts to help remove impediments that often discourage developers from revitalizing brownfields into locations that benefit the community."
"Many good things are under way, but our city's redevelopment is inhibited by neglected, abandoned and too-often contaminated property. These [EPA] funds are of vital value as we assess the neglect of our environment, something we have to do in order to develop strategies to clean it up and unlock its potential," Congresswoman Carson said. "This is good business for our city."
Brownfields are abandoned or underutilized properties where redevelopment is complicated by either real or perceived contamination. These areas are often former industrial sites such as plants or factories, as well as gas stations and dry cleaners.
Brownfields redevelopment was a major plank in both of the Mayor's "Peterson Plans." In the Mayor's first term in office, the city invested more than a million dollars in brownfields redevelopment.
Just last month, the city and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) awarded more than $27,000 in grants to three Indianapolis area organizations as a part of the City of Indianapolis' brownfields grant program.
Some of the successful brownfields projects funded by city brownfields grants include:
- 1520 N. Alabama -
This site was the former location of a taxi company. Underground storage tank removal and site assessment was conducted with a $7,500 City of Indianapolis/LISC brownfields grant, and the site is now in the process of being redeveloped into condominiums.
- Cit-E-Scapes
– A $1,600 grant awarded to Concord CDC funded site testing at 1218 S. Meridian. The test results showed no contamination, and a small start-up business, Cit-E-Scapes greenhouse, was able to open shop on the abandoned property.
- East 38th St. Library Branch
– The Indianapolis-Marion County Library Association utilized $15,000 in brownfields grant program funding to perform site clean-up and soil remediation at 5452 E. 38th St., making way for the new library branch that now serves the public on the city's northeast side.
- Nation of Islam Mosque No. 74
– United North East CDC utilized a $10,000 grant for monitoring wells and groundwater sampling at an underutilized, dilapidated site at 2248 E. 38th St. The site is now serving the city's Islamic residents as a mosque.
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