Contacts
U.S. EPA: Honor Morgan, morgan.honor@epa.gov
City of Pueblo: Haley Sue Robinson, 719-553-2655, hrobinson@pueblo.us
PUEBLO, Colo. (May 20, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the City of Pueblo will receive $1 million in Brownfields grant funding to support the environmental assessments, cleanup and redevelopment of critical properties in Pueblo, Colorado.
These investments are part the agency’s Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs.
“EPA’s Brownfields grants are supporting critical cleanup and redevelopment projects in communities across Colorado,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “We look forward to seeing these funds transform blighted sites in Pueblo’s Eastside, Bessemer and Downtown neighborhoods into new assets.”
“In the wealthiest nation in the world, every family should be able to live in a clean environment,” said Senator Michael Bennet. “This funding will rightfully support Colorado communities disproportionately affected by contamination. These grants will help Colorado communities safely clean up polluted sites, protect their health, and rebuild in a way that creates jobs and economic opportunity.”
The grant will focus on the geographical area of Pueblo called the Y-Zone, which includes revitalization projects in the Eastside, Bessemer, and Downtown neighborhoods. Funding will be used to conduct substantial asbestos cleanup at El Centro Del Quinto Sol Community Center, which is the Eastside neighborhood’s only community center.
“The City of Pueblo is excited to receive this EPA Multipurpose grant which will help our city restore a community center, restore underutilized significant historic spaces and assist the private sector in redeveloping numerous vacant places,” said Mayor Heather Graham. “This multi-year investment in Pueblo will help us clean up buildings and reinvest in our historic Bessemer, Eastside and West Side neighborhoods and turn vacancy into vibrancy.”
The City of Pueblo identified El Centro del Quinto Sol Community Center as the project’s first priority cleanup site. Formerly built as the Fountain School in 1904, the Community center now hosts a popular skate park and open-air space with various monuments to the Chicano civil rights movement. The City will use the grant funding to upgrade services and expand offerings at the community center, which require substantial asbestos abatement throughout the building.
Another priority site identified in this project is the Steel Works History Museum, which was the former headquarters of the steel plant in the Bessemer neighborhood and is not a National Historic Landmark site. The building requires extensive asbestos abatement and mitigation of other hazardous building materials before it can be redeveloped. Grant funding will be used to complete clean-up planning for possible reuse and will retain the steel heritage in the Bessemer neighborhood.
Additional priority sites include two sites identified from a 2020 Community Wide Assessment grant, where over 60 Brownfields sites were identified. MAC grant funding will be used to advance reuse of the former Black Hills Energy Plant 5 & 6 Priority site and consolidate abandoned railroad properties at the State Land Board Priority site. Reuse of the Plant 5 & 6 site, and consolidation of the Land Board abandoned railroad properties will foster redevelopment and retain a key historic structure.
This project will help support the City of Pueblo’s commitment to 100% renewable energy in its operations by 2035. The revitalization work funded by this grant will promote reuse of historic buildings, eliminating waste to landfills. Reuse of the existing infrastructure will also help limit urban sprawl and conserve water resources, as well as create new housing options to keep residents in their chosen neighborhoods.
State Funding Breakdown
Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Program Selection
The City of Pueblo is among six organizations in Colorado have been selected to receive EPA Brownfields funding through the Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup (MAC) Grant Programs. Additional grantees announced today include:
The City of Greeley, Colorado has been selected to receive $500,000.
The City of Northglenn, Colorado has been selected to receive $2,750,000.
The Town of Kersey, Colorado has been selected to receive $1,132,899.
Metro West Housing Solutions, (Lakewood) Colorado has been selected to receive $500,000.
The City of Monte Vista, Colorado has been selected to receive $1,000,000.
Additional Background:
EPA’s Brownfields Program advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. Approximately 86% of the MAC and RLF Supplemental program applications selected to receive funding proposed to work in areas that include overburdened communities.”
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.7 billion in Brownfield Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. Prior to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this program made approximately $60 million available each year. Thanks to the President’s historic investments in America through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA has now increased that yearly investment nearly 400 percent.
To see the list of the FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup applicants selected for funding visit EPA’s FY 2024 Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup Applicants webpage.
For more information on EPA’s Brownfields Program visit EPA’s Brownfields webpage.