EPA Announces $500,000 To GNDC
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $500,000 in supplemental funding to Great Northern Development Corporation to clean up and redevelop contaminated brownfield properties in eastern Montana.
GNDC is one of 27 awardees nationwide that has demonstrated success in using previously awarded Brownfields Revolving Loan Funding grants to clean up and redevelop brownfield sites. This investment is an important part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to address environmental justice issues in underserved communities.
“The Great Northern Development Corporation will use this supplemental funding to continue its vital work to clean up brownfield sites across eastern Montana,” acting regional administrator Debra H. Thomas said. “EPA is committed to providing support to rural communities that rely on funding to improve environmental conditions, drive economic growth and make their communities healthier, safer and more vibrant.”
GNDC and their Eastern Montana Brownfields Coalition will use the supplemental funding for cleanup loans and grants in Poplar, Jordan, Baker, Glendive and other communities in eastern Montana. The coalition has issued more than $1 million in cleanup loans and grants in one of the most rural parts of the country.
“We are excited to receive this additional funding for our RLF as it will allow the Eastern Montana Brownfields Coalition to continue our redevelopment work in 15 counties in eastern Montana,” said Tori Matejovsky, executive director of the Eastern Montana Brownfields Coalition. “The awarded supplemental funds will be utilized to follow through with the cleanup of sites previously assessed with the Eastern Montana Brownfields Coalition Assessment grants and will provide additional resources for our many small communities to increase their tax base, remove blight from long-ignored areas and create the possibility for new employment opportunities.”
Brownfield RLF grants enable funding for communities to provide loans and sub-grants for cleanup activities at brownfield sites. When loans are repaid, the loan amount is returned into the fund and re-lent to other borrowers, providing an ongoing source of capital within a community.
To date, EPA’s RLF grantees across the country have completed 794 cleanups and attracted approximately 48,000 jobs and $16.2 billion in public and private funding. Today’s supplemental funds will help communities keep the cleanup momentum going so that more cleanups can be completed. Each grantee will receive from $200,000 to $500,000.
Since 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.6 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, these brownfields investments have leveraged more than $34.5 billion in cleanup and redevelopment in communities across the country. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged, from both public and private sources, more than 176,800 jobs.
For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ brownfields-revolvingloan- fund-rlf-grants.
