QuoteThe City of Jacksonville has been awarded $400,000 in grants by the Environmental Protection Agency to identify potential contaminated properties.
The funds include a $200,000 hazardous substances grant and a $200,000 petroleum grant that will be used to assess up to 18 sites. The money will be focused within the brownfields pilot project area, which consists of Downtown, LaVilla, Eastside and Springfield primarily.
A brownfields site is property that is contaminated by hazardous materials that complicate their reuse.
The city will also use the funding to create an inventory of brownfields sites.
Jacksonville was one of nine Florida communities chosen, including Palatka and Live Oak. In total, 147 communities were selected, totaling $54.3 million in grant funding.
More than 30 percent of the communities selected have been affected by plant closures, 40 percent by significant economic disruptions and 42 percent by adverse natural disasters, according to the EPA.
Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, in a statement, said the funds were awarded to a variety of communities with populations ranging from 89 to 1.4 million, and more than half under 100,000.
"The grants will help transform brownfield sites, such as former manufacturing and mill sites, into productive end uses which directly benefit community residents and create opportunities including increased housing options, recreational spaces, and jobs," the statement said.
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