The City of Atlanta announced that the Department of City Planning was selected by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to receive a Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund grant for $300,000 and an assessment grant for an additional $300,000, totaling $600,000 in funding. The support will help the City continue its work cleaning up contaminated brownfield properties, as well as conduct brownfield assessment work for other targeted areas in Atlanta. Nationally, EPA selected 11 existing RLF recipients to receive a total of approximately $5.35 million in supplemental funding.
 
The targeted communities for brownfields assessments include the Proctor Creek Watershed, corridors along the Chattahoochee River, the Murphy Triangle Area which includes Adair Park, Capitol View, Sylvan Hills and Oakland City, and two redevelopment railroad corridors along Memorial Drive and DeKalb Avenue. These communities are current and former industrial areas located primarily along rail lines and the adjacent neighborhoods, many of which are located along the Northwest to Southeast Atlanta transect.

“The City of Atlanta is proud to receive a 2017 Brownfields Program grant award from the United States Environmental Protection Agency,” said Mayor Kasim Reed. “My Administration has worked to enhance underserved neighborhoods by confronting local environmental and public health challenges related to brownfields. We believe the development of brownfield properties throughout the city will advance economic development and job creation, while beautifying and repurposing abandoned areas.”

The Brownfields RLF program supports EPA’s commitment to help environmentally overburdened communities address their local priorities. The supplemental funds awarded to the City of Atlanta will help reuse vacant and abandoned properties and turn them into community assets such as housing, recreation and open space, health facilities, social services, transportation options, infrastructure and commerce opportunities.

“The City of Atlanta’s RLF Program is of vital importance to both non-profits and for profits with limited resources for brownfield cleanup, a vital step in the reuse and redevelopment of brownfield properties. A perennial reminder of the importance of the City’s RLF Program is the cleanup and redevelopment of the Eastside Trail of the Atlanta Beltline,” said Georgia Environmental Protection Division Brownfields Coordinator Shannon Ridley. “The supplemental funds awarded to the City will greatly help other eligible entities to cleanup brownfields to make them safe for reuse.”

This year’s selection represents the sixth brownfields assessment grant awarded by the EPA to the City of Atlanta.

“We appreciate the EPA for continuously recognizing and supporting our efforts in the reuse and redevelopment of brownfield properties across the City,” said Tim Keane, Commissioner of the Department. “As Atlanta grows, it’s important that we utilize our existing inventory which has so much potential and revitalize those spaces into community assets.”

The City of Atlanta’s Brownfields Program started in 1996. Since then, the City has managed several programs and initiatives aimed at identifying, assessing and remediating brownfield sites throughout the city. Atlantic Station, Ponce City Market and the Atlanta BeltLine are examples of successful brownfield cleanup and redevelopment projects in the City of Atlanta.