EPA Region 7 to Present City of Fort Dodge, Iowa, with $500K Check for Brownfields Grant

LENEXA, KAN. (JUNE 15, 2023) – On Friday, June 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 will present a $500,000 ceremonial check to the City of Fort Dodge, Iowa. The city will host the ceremony at the City Council Chambers.

EPA selected the City of Fort Dodge for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 20 Phase I and seven Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to conduct area-wide planning, cleanup planning, and community outreach activities.

The target area for this grant is the city’s downtown. Priority sites include a former residential building, an underutilized storage building, and a former motel.

These investments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $470 billion in private-sector manufacturing and clean-energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.

“EPA is proud to once again partner with Fort Dodge,” said EPA Region 7 Land, Chemical, and Redevelopment Division Director Jeff Robichaud. “This grant will add to the city’s ongoing efforts to provide a cleaner environment and spur economic growth in the region.”

“The redevelopment of brownfield sites is not economically feasible without the assistance of our partners at EPA,” said Fort Dodge Community and Economic Development Director Vickie Reeck. “Fort Dodge is excited to continue the long-standing relationship with our friends at Region 7, as we begin our next Community-Wide Assessment Grant.”

Please RSVP to: Shannan Beisser, beisser.shannan@epa.gov, 816-520-1949.

WHO:

EPA Region 7 Land, Chemical, and Redevelopment Division Director Jeff Robichaud
Fort Dodge Mayor Matt Bemrich
Fort Dodge Community and Economic Development Director Vickie Reeck

WHAT: Brownfields grant ceremonial check presentation to the City of Fort Dodge, Iowa

WHEN: Friday, June 16, at 2:30 p.m. CDT

WHERE: Fort Dodge City Council Chambers, 819 1st Avenue South, Fort Dodge, Iowa

Background

EPA has selected these organizations to receive funding to address and support the reuse of brownfield sites. EPA anticipates making all the awards recently announced, once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied.

EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfields Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged over $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding has leveraged nearly 260,000 jobs from both public and private sources. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leveraged an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of EPA Brownfield Grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.

The next National Brownfields Training Conference will be held on Aug. 8-11, 2023, in Detroit. Offered every two years, this conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing former commercial and industrial properties. EPA co-sponsors this event with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA).