EPA Region 7 to Present City of Perry, Iowa, with $375K 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 $375,000 ceremonial check to the City of Perry, Iowa. The city will host the ceremony at the Perry Solar Pavilion at Caboose Park.

EPA has selected the City of Perry for a Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 15 Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare a Community Involvement Plan and conduct five public meetings.

The target area for this grant is the City of Perry with a focus on its urban core. Priority sites include a 2.76-acre, multi-parcel site with a history of cement production; a blighted, vacant former ice cream production site; and a vacant, mixed-use, two-story building built in 1900.

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 the City of Perry,” said EPA Region 7 Land, Chemical, and Redevelopment Division Director Jeff Robichaud. “This assessment grant is the first step in creating a cleaner, revitalized downtown for the citizens and visitors of Perry.”

“The City of Perry is excited to once again partner with the EPA’s Brownfields Program to further assess and plan for future redevelopment opportunities in our downtown core,” said Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson. “Serving as central Iowa’s hub of the famous High Trestle and Raccoon River Valley Trails, Perry’s downtown revitalization efforts are a key component in our communities’ success. We want to provide a sustainable community for residents and visitors alike. This grant award will help us move the needle on working toward and reaching our redevelopment and sustainability goals. We are extremely grateful to the EPA for this opportunity.”

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

WHO:

EPA Region 7 Land, Chemical, and Redevelopment Division Director Jeff Robichaud
Perry Mayor John Andorf
Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson

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

WHEN: Friday, June 16, at noon CDT

WHERE: Perry Solar Pavilion at Caboose Park, northwest corner of Willis Avenue and 1st Avenue, Perry, 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).