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May 24, 2006- Kaptur: Feds Sending $400,000 to Aid Toledo Area Brownfield Work

May 24, 2006

A hazardous substance grant of $200,000 and a petroleum grant of $200,000will be used to conduct community outreach activities, perform environmentalsite assessments, and to investigate the impacts of exposures on at-riskpopulations.

The funding will aid the City and the Port Authority to identify potentiallyhazardous sites and prepare preliminary clean-up plans for those sites. The EPA Brownfield Assessment fund has been used successfully before by theCity of Toledoin identifying the extent of contamination in East Toledo's Marina Districtand to attract clean-up funding to the site.

"We have the opportunity to transform our community eyesores into communitygems," said Kaptur. "Identifying sites through community outreach andinput is the first step in turning problem properties back into communityassets. We can put both people and property back to work.

"Eventual cleanup of the brownfield areas dilapidated and vacant commercialand industrial properties will not only enhance the environmental quality ofthe area, but will facilitate redevelopment of the properties and will ensurebetter health and a brighter future for the next generation of Toledoans," saidKaptur.

Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may becomplicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance,pollutant, or contaminant. The brownfields program supports efforts toreturn America'sestimated 450,000 problem properties to productive community use. Thisyear, 209 applicants were selected to receive 292 grants totaling $69.9 millionfor assessment or cleanup of properties. Toledohas approximately 200 brownfield sites, in addition to the city's abandoned gasstations.