Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-9) celebrated a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcement this morning that a combined $1,400,000 has been awarded to Cuyahoga County, the City of Toledo, and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) in Cleveland to support the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of several contaminated properties known as Brownfield sites.
Cuyahoga County and the City of Toledo will each receive $500,000 to support assessments at several sites in each area. The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has been awarded two grants of $200,000 each. The first award will support cleanup and community coordination at sites in Cleveland's Central neighborhood that have a legacy of significant environmental damage. The second award will support redevelopment at these sites as part of NEORSD's broader Woodland Central Green Infrastructure Project, which includes new catch basins and storm sewers that will help manage storm water runoff more efficiently.
"This is great news for our region and an exciting opportunity to clean up valuable sites and get them back into service," said Rep. Kaptur. "These investments not only support the health and safety of surrounding communities, they also create new opportunities for community and small business investment that drives economic growth and job creation. I applaud U.S. EPA for supporting this important work."
"We are thrilled to be receiving these grants and grateful to Rep. Kaptur for her ongoing support," said Julius Ciaccia, CEO, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. "In addition to controlling combined sewer overflows and protecting Lake Erie, our Green Infrastructure Program also helps with revitalization and repurposing of Cleveland's legacy Brownfields. These grants enable the Sewer District to implement green infrastructure that turns what was once an eyesore and a potential health risk into an amenity for the community and an asset for Lake Erie."
"This is a huge win for the City of Toledo and we are fortunate to have a long and successful history of working with USEPA on brownfield redevelopment and environmental assessment of properties," said Bill Burkett, Commissioner of Economic and Business Development at the City of Toledo. "USEPA Brownfield programs have played an integral role in the City's economic development. There is no area of the City that has not included USEPA assistance."
"Thanks to this award, the City of Toledo will be able to assess multiple sites throughout Toledo and help address blight in our community," added Marc Gerdeman, Brownfield Redevelopment Officer at the City of Toledo. "With our last assessment grant the City was able to leverage more than $12 million towards cleanup and redevelopment. The City of Toledo's goal is to continue to promote urban vibrancy by transforming the areas left blighted and underutilized following decades of economic despair. As such, we are focusing our program's scope to revitalize brownfields in commercial/industrial corridors where there is most potential for sustainable, catalytic redevelopment, where negative impacts on the community are the greatest, and where there is distinct community interest in revitalization."
According to U.S. EPA, since the inception of the EPA's Brownfields Program in 1995, investments through the initiative have attracted more than $22 billion in subsequent public and private investment for cleanup and redevelopment activities, nearly $18 for every dollar awarded by EPA. These investments have resulted in an estimated 105,942 jobs nationwide.