GREENFIELD — City officials are seeking a $300,000 federal grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to study and identify potential brownfield sites throughout Greenfield.
Greenfield partnered with Indianapolis-based BCA Environmental Consultants LLC to submit the grant application at no cost to the city, according to Greenfield planner Joanie Fitzwater. The city knows of at least 16 potential brownfield sites in town, she said. Those include former gas stations, empty factories and commercial buildings, landfills and other sites.
The EPA defines brownfield as a property that “may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” The agency estimates 450,000 brownfield sites exist in the country. The EPA awarded $15.7 million for brownfield studies and cleanups in 2018.
If awarded the EPA communitywide assessment grant, the city can use $300,000 to pay for about 16 “phase one” environmental assessments of properties. Fitzwater said Greenfield needs willing property owners to agree to the study, adding she doesn’t want to announce the 16 targeted sites at this time.
Fitzwater said receiving the grant would assist the city in the ongoing process to expand the Pennsy Trail, further downtown revitalization and complete projects through the city’s Stellar Communities program. That way, officials would know whether an area of the city is safe for development, she said.
“It’s all geared toward redevelopment, and trying to position ourselves to be ready for redevelopment,” she said.
Fitzwater said applying for the brownfield grant also fits the Health and Heritage region’s goal of being the healthiest community in the state. The group was awarded up to $15 million through Stellar.
“All of these brownfields affect the health of our community, so if we can clean them up it’s not only a good redevelopment strategy, but it improves our health at the same time,” Fitzwater said. “We’re starting at the ground level.”
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management told the city that 465 properties in Greenfield are listed in “environmental records” available on IDEM’s database, Fitzwater said.
The Indiana Brownfields Program, part of the Indiana Finance Authority, has assisted a few sites in Greenfield on brownfield applications and assessments, according to IDEM documents published online.
Most recently, BCA Consultants worked with Keller Development Inc., of Fort Wayne, to remove a “hotspot” of arsenic found in soil near Broadway Flats, apartments under construction near the Pennsy Trail at the corner of Center and Osage streets. The excavation and soil study was completed in March 2018.
According to IDEM documents, the nearly 3-acre site was the location of a former saw and planing mill and lumber storage yard that operated for more than 60 years. An ice production and cold storage company also sat on the property, as well as an antique mall and several small shops.
In 1999, the city received a brownfield assessment grant to study land at 804 W. Osage St., just west of Broadway Flats. It was the former site of Custom Blended Fuels, according to IDEM documents. The agency determined that the groundwater contaminants at the location aren’t harmful to exposure.
Fitzwater said the EPA will announce the grant winners in June. If Greenfield is a recipient, Fitzwater said the city will next focus on applying for the second round of brownfield grants that identify specific contaminants. After that, she said, the city might have leftover funds to clean up a few properties.
Greenfield officials will also educate residents about the effect of brownfields on the community and share available tools provided through the state and federal government for property owners.
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A brownfield is a property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which might be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. It is estimated that more than 450,000 brownfields exist in the United States. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases; facilitates job growth; utilizes existing infrastructure; takes development pressures off of undeveloped, open land; and both improves and protects the environment.
Source: Environmental Protection Agency
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The Indiana Brownfields Program has considered or provided financial, legal or technical assistance to the following Hancock County sites:
- Broadway Lumber Company, 210 Center St., Greenfield
- Former Custom Blended Fuels site, 804 W. Osage St., Greenfield
- Mt. Comfort Track, 3278 N. County Road 400W, Greenfield
- Innis Property, 56 W. Main St., New Palestine
Source: Indiana Brownfields Program, Indiana Finance Authority
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