FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 22, 2015) – The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Brownfield Redevelopment Program today announced the second group of grant recipients of the Cleaner Commonwealth Fund. Four projects are being funded in this round. They are: A former shoe factory in Vanceburg, which will receive $50,000. The building is no longer useable. This grant, along with a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will help address asbestos issues as the building is demolished. Once the property is cleared, Peoples’ Self Help Housing will construct low-income, high-energy efficiency homes on the property. Gateway Center in Louisville, which will receive $50,000. This is a former chemical plant. The grant will help address asbestos issues as buildings are cleared to improve the marketability of this property, which is located in an impoverished portion of the city. An area in the 900 block of South Eighth and South Ninth streets in Louisville will receive $34,000. Spalding University will receive this grant to review options to address contamination at these former industrial properties, 916 S. Eighth St. and 939 S. Ninth St., and to develop a cleanup or management plan. The Old Fayette County Courthouse in Lexington, which will receive $12,000. This grant, along with a $200,000 EPA grant, will help address asbestos and lead-based paint within the building, enabling the structure to be redeveloped. In February, the program solicited requests for funds to redevelop brownfield properties. This fund, which is administered through the Division of Compliance Assistance, provides financial assistance for projects that clean up brownfield sites, including old factories, former gas stations and other properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to environmental contamination. The fund is a grant-and-loan fund established with an $850,000 EPA Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund grant. Brownfield redevelopment not only protects the environment, but it can also be an important economic driver for a community. Since the inception of the federal brownfield program in 2002, brownfield redevelopment activities have leveraged more than 90,000 jobs across the nation. According to EPA studies, property values rise between 5.1 and 12.8 percent when a nearby brownfield property is redeveloped. Kentucky has realized similar successes with projects like Owensboro’s’ riverfront redevelopment, Crab Orchard’s Lincoln County scrap yard and Cumberland Valley Area Development District’s Assessment Program. A loan program, which will initially be limited to public entities and nonprofits, will be launched in late summer or early fall of 2015. For questions, please contact Herb Petitjean or Amanda LeFevre at 800-926-8111. If you are interested in brownfield revitalization and brownfield grants, contact the Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program at 800-926-8111 or [email protected]. To read more about brownfield sites that have been cleaned and put back into productive reuse, go to http://dca.ky.gov/Pages/ResourceDocuments.aspx under DCA Case Studies: Brownfields.
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