EPA awards $8 million for re-development

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the award of more than $8 million to states and tribes in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska for the re-development and remediation of brownfield sites. In Alaska the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a tribal corporation in the Interior, has an active brownfield sites program and defines a brownfield site as “an abandoned or underused property, with real or perceived contamination, that could be cleaned up and reused.” Examples include old tank farms, abandoned buildings containing hazardous materials, and mine-scarred lands.

“State and tribal response programs continue to be at the forefront of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt when announcing the EPA funding. “Both public and private markets recognize the opportunities created by these programs to lock-in protective and sustainable cleanups.”

EPA says that, by cleaning up previously contaminated properties, brownfield redevelopments result in the re-use of sites, revitalizing commercial property and local economies. The Tanana Chiefs Conference website cites a number of purposed for the redevelopment of sites in Alaska, including restored subsistence use, heavy equipment storage and housing or public infrastructure.

- ALAN BAILEY