By OWEN McNEILL, Staff Writer
One local government agency is working to identify properties that are abandoned or under-utilized, because they present real or perceived environmental contamination, work done with the ambition of cleaning up the sites.
The Kentucky Brownfield Program in the Division of Compliance Assistance announced recently the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a total of $2 million for 10 brownfield grants to Kentucky communities, one of them the Buffalo Trace Area Development District.
BTADD received an assessment grant totalling $200,000 to inventory, characterize and conduct planning and community involvement related to brownfield sites. Brownfields can include factories, abandoned gas stations, former dry-cleaning establishments, illegal dumps, mine-scarred lands and illegal drug labs. There are an estimated 8,000 brownfields in Kentucky.
According to statistics released by the EPA, 10 Kentucky communities authored a total of 16 grant applications to assess and clean up brownfield sites. This was more than twice the number submitted the previous year. Kentucky turned in more applications relative to its population than any other state in EPA Region 4, which covers the southeastern United States.
Doug Padgett, Economic Development director for BTADD, said it actually took two tries to get the grant for this area.
“We submitted our initial application for funding in December of 2006,” Padgett said. “That application was denied with the monies going to other areas. Vicki Brace) attended a bunch of brownfield trainings and grant writing sessions and re-submitted our application this last December.”
“That was the one,” Brace, Economic Development specialist for BTADD said. “We added a few details in one spot and changed some wording in another and they told us to keep Monday’s afternoon clear. They called and told us to be in Covington on Monday, where we received our check.”
“The site in Covington that the grants were awarded is an actual brownfield site,” Brace said. “Doug and I went up there on Monday and it was interesting, to say the least. You can tell that site is a brownfield site, that’s for sure. These monies are needed and that site was a clear indicator why.”
Padgett said there are two categories for brownfield grants, one for petroleum contaminated sites such as abandoned gas stations, and another for non-petroleum contaminated sites. BTADD applied for the non-petroleum contaminated grants hopefully providing the most use for the monies.
“We did it for the five county area of Bracken, Mason, Lewis, Robertson and Fleming counties,” Padgett said. “We felt the non-petroleum contamination monies would help our area the most. This money will be used to determine exactly how many brownfield sites there are in the area. Sites that have been previously determined to be contaminated such as the Hayswood Hospital site and others will not be impacted by this grant. We already know there are problems there. These monies will go directly toward finding new sites. We have to know what we have before we can fix the problem.”
“We expect this study to take approximately one year to complete,” he said. “Our next step will be to hold public forums in all five counties and ask for assistance in identifying possible sites to study. Once we have completed the forums, we will form the Buffalo Trace Regional Brownfield Committee which will be composed of the public and elected officials such as Mayors (David) Cartmell (of Maysville) and Patton of Vanceburg. The committee will then look to hire the appropriate environmental company to test some of these possible sites to determine exactly what we have in the five county area. Once identification is complete, the committee will rank all the sites for future attention.”
“This is where we start to get a handle on the situation,” Padgett added. “We need this money to identify the problem sites. Once this process is complete, we hope to apply for funding for clean-up grants like what Owensboro received. With the way the lending markets are right now, every potential commercial loan now has to have a Phase I environmental study done. Any project backed with investment money has to have these studies because banks and lenders can’t take a chance on purchasing one of these contaminated properties. The clean-ups are so cost prohibitive that it is slowing our economy down. With the lending market so tight right now we are hoping this will help move them along.”
“Any site could be a potential brownfield site,” Padgett said, “Chemicals from old warehouses, lead paints, asbestos, mercury in the drains of old school sites and even radiation contamination. These are all problem sites. Even abandoned restaurants have been showing up if charred meats are left behind or stacked up cleaning supplies. This grant will give us a starting point in determining where the problem sites are. From these studies we will be able to go back and apply for clean-up grants that will restore and reclaim these properties for development. We want to reclaim these properties for economic re-development to spur further controlled growth in our five county wide footprint. We feel this grant will be the beginning of that process that, while involving a lot of hard work, will pay off ten-fold in the end.”
Other areas also received monies in the form of brownfield grants. Owensboro received three grants for clean-up activities at brownfield sites which constitutes the actual removal of contamination from the area. Covington received one grant for clean up and two assessment grants while Louisville and BTADD each received one assessment grant each. The Letcher County Conservation District received two assessment grants as well.
The Brownfield Program in the Division of Compliance Assistance is administered by the Department for Environmental Protection in the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet.
Contact Owen McNeill at owen.mcneill@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 272.
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