Contacts:
U.S. EPA: Richard Mylott, mylott.richard@epa.gov
Great Falls Development Authority: Lillian Sunwall, Vice President Business Strategy, 406-750-1253, lsunwall@growgreatfalls.org
Great Falls, Mont. (May 25, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the Great Falls Development Authority will receive a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant to conduct environmental site assessments and develop reuse plans at more than a dozen locations across Cascade County, Montana. The target area for these projects includes downtown Great Falls and small communities throughout the county.
“The Great Falls Development Authority continues to be a high-performing partner in using EPA Brownfields funds to complete cleanup and redevelopment projects in the city and throughout Cascade County,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “We look forward to these efforts as they address contamination and create new opportunities for the residents of Belt, Cascade, Great Falls, Monarch, Sun River, Ulm and Vaughn.”
“As a third-generation farmer, I understand the challenges rural America is facing, including the lasting impacts of toxic waste,” said U.S. Senator Jon Tester. “Cleaning up and revitalizing Montana’s remaining Brownfield sites breathes new life into our communities by creating some real opportunities for economic development. That’s why I am proud to have secured this funding in my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for cleanup projects across Big Sky Country to spur economic growth and improve the quality of life for folks from Glendive to Kalispell.”
EPA’s award to the Great Falls Development Authority is among six grants announced today totaling more than $5.7 million for cleanup and revitalization projects in communities across Montana. These funds are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to expedite the assessment and cleanup of brownfield sites while advancing environmental justice through the Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant programs. Thanks to the historic boost from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this funding is the largest ever awarded by the EPA’s Brownfields MARC Grant programs.
“The team at Great Falls Development Authority is delighted to be awarded this Brownfields Assessment Grant from EPA,” said Lillian Sunwall, Vice President of the Great Falls Development Authority. “This assessment grant will be a great tool to leverage our Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund along with public and private investment to push the assessed sites into cleanup and redevelopment. We look forward to building on the success that has already been created by our completed brownfields projects.”
Great Falls Development Authority will use the EPA funding to address several priority properties selected because they offer significant redevelopment potential, lack traditional economic support and/or are located near sensitive populations. These sites include, but are not limited to:
Energy West Gas Manufacturing Plant, Great Falls
Former Dick Grieb Buick, Great Falls
Quality Life Concepts, Great Falls
Westside Animal Clinic, Great Falls
Discount Parts, Belt
Antiques Café, Sun River
Contaminants associated with the properties listed above include gasoline and diesel fuels, metals, pesticides, wood treatment chemicals, asbestos, lead-based-paint and methamphetamine.
The Great Falls Development Authority identified several reuse opportunities for these sites. For example, cleanup of potential petroleum contamination at the Dick Grieb Buick property will remove obstacles to redevelopment opportunities as a storefront and residential housing. Additional Brownfields throughout the county include railroad property and fuel warehouses and storage sites, which represent possible sources of petroleum and hazardous substance contamination.
Other Brownfields grants announced in Montana today include:
Sweetgrass Development Corporation, north-central Montana: $1 million
Montana West Economic Development Foundation, Inc, Kalispell, Flathead County: $500,000
Big Sky Economic Development, Billings: $1 million
Great Northern Development Corporation, Glendive: $2,250,000
Beartooth Resource Conservation and Development, Stillwater, Carbon and Big Horn Counties and the Northern Cheyenne and Crow Indian Reservations: $460,000
Background
Thanks to the historic $1.5 billion boost from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA’s Brownfields Program is helping more communities than ever begin to address the economic, social and environmental challenges caused by brownfields and stimulate economic opportunity and environmental revitalization in historically overburdened communities.
EPA’s Brownfields Program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative to direct 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities. Approximately 84% of the MARC program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include historically underserved communities.
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.37 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. EPA’s investments in addressing brownfield sites have leveraged more than $36 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Communities that previously received Brownfields Grants used these resources to fund assessments and cleanups of brownfields, and successfully leverage an average of 10.6 jobs per $100,000 of grant funds spent and $19.78 for every dollar.