Century $400K Grant Recognized In Brownsfields Redevelopment Forum

June 20, 2016

Nearly 70 representatives from local government and engineering and environmental consulting firms joined state and federal experts to learn more about the economic and environmental benefits of Florida’s Brownfields Redevelopment Program.

During the forum, the town of Century was recognized for its recent selection by EPA to receive $400,000 in brownfields assessment grants. These funds will be used to conduct environmental site assessments within the town of Century and the neighboring town of Flomaton, Ala. After the assessment phase, grant funds will also be used to prioritize the sites, develop cleanup plans and conduct community outreach activities. This will pave the way for the former hazardous waste and petroleum sites to become safe and environmentally sound locations for redevelopment, providing economic benefits for these communities.

“The Brownfields Redevelopment Program provides incentives to help revitalize communities and foster economic development,” said Joe Ullo, director of DEP’s Division of Waste Management. “It is an honor to not only recognize the town of Century for their success on obtaining the brownfields assessment grants from EPA, but also to be a part of educating our communities about these programs that empower communities, local governments and other stakeholders to work together to assess, clean up and reuse properties previously impacted by pollutants.”

Through economic and regulatory incentives, the Brownfields Redevelopment Program encourages the restoration and redevelopment of contaminated sites, which helps create new jobs and boost the local economy. For the program’s incentives to be available to a community, a local government must designate a brownfields area by resolution.

“It is a priority for DEP to focus taxpayer resources on projects that provide a direct benefit to the environment and local communities, and the Brownfields Redevelopment Program is designed to do just that,” said Shawn Hamilton, director of DEP’s Northwest District. “Utilizing these incentives, our local communities can redevelop unused properties to meet local needs. We have seen many successful brownfields redevelopment projects in Northwest Florida and this annual forum encourages continued success.”

As of 2015, statewide, there have been 404 Brownfield Area Designations, 258 Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreements and 88 Site Rehabilitation Completion Orders issued since the program’s inception in 1997. More than $155 million has been invested in Florida’s communities through this program.

Comments

One Response to “Century $400K Grant Recognized In Brownsfields Redevelopment Forum”

  1. Citizen on June 20th, 2016 2:55 pm

    Good Work. Thank you. From what I have read the entire town of Century is already designated a Brownfield and poised to take advantage of such programs. The old mill site has already been cleaned up to a point. I see this grant is to assess sites further and ENCOURAGE private owners to clean up their sites so that they can be redeveloped to help the entire town. I’m not sure but I would think some of the empty commercial properties that may have the leaking underground storage tanks from previous gas stations hinder their sale and possible redevelopment. One can go on the Escambia property appraiser interactive map and find the owners.Some of the old sites were passed on for $100 or so and sit there in ruin looking shabby. How do you plan to Encourage the clean up? I believe an owner may do better to try to work this out and not be surprised when someone finally compiles this info and turns it in to code enforcement or EPA. I know it must be hard when these actions affect real people that you know and love but I believe it is in the works through the proper channels.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News