Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $500,000 in supplemental funding to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania to assist with the cleanup of contaminated brownfields properties.

“This funding will provide Montgomery County with resources to continue its cleanup work on contaminated properties throughout the county,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “Returning these lands to beneficial reuse is the goal, and this grant will help the county reach that milestone at additional locations.”

Montgomery County is one of 33 municipalities nationwide to receive a portion of the $15.7 million in supplemental funding for existing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) grantees so they can carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects.

“The Redevelopment Authority and Montgomery County are appreciative of the financial and technical support provided by EPA in helping us return numerous brownfields sites to productive use,” said John Nugent, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority. “Our collaborative work with EPA can be seen in projects where remediation has resulted in significant job creation, assisted with economic viability and supported the development of affordable housing.”

Today’s announcement took place at the former Ambler Boiler House property, a former industrial site that was cleaned up with a prior RLF grant and is now the Ambler Boiler House office building, a multi-tenant workplace where more than 300 people are employed.

Since 1999, EPA has provided Montgomery County with nearly $4 million in brownfields funding to assess, cleanup and spur redevelopment of brownfields sites. The most recent funding was used to remediate parking lots at the Boiler House office complex and the Ambler Crossings luxury apartments. Past brownfields funds have been used for sites in Pottstown, Upper Dublin and Abington Townships.

The Brownfields RLF program supports EPA’s commitment to assist communities in addressing environmentally challenged properties and meet their local revitalization priorities. The funds help communities reuse vacant and abandoned properties and turn them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and commerce opportunities.

RLFs specifically supply funding for loans and sub-grants to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields sites. These funds are provided to communities that have shown success in cleaning up and redeveloping brownfields sites.

A recent national study shows that cleaning up brownfields areas leads to residential property value increases of 5 - 15.2 percent within a 1.24-mile radius of the site. Another study analyzing data near 48 brownfields found that an estimated $29 to $97 million in additional tax revenue is generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.

More information on EPA’s Brownfields program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields and a complete list of grantees is available at: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/announcing-fy18-supplemental-funding-brownfields-revolving-loan-fund-grants.