Ohio wins $1.8M in stimulus funds for brownfield cleanup

The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) has announced that it has received $1.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund Program.

The funding, to be made available to government entities and non-profits as subgrants of up to $200,000, can be applied to the environmental cleanup of shovel-ready sites whose remediation will create or retain jobs.

Subgrants will be distributed beginning in November, with priority given to historic buildings in need of asbestos abatement.

"Investments in brownfield redevelopment have a direct economic and environmental impact and provide our communities with lasting benefits," said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, ODOD interim director. "These American Recovery and Reinvestment funds are critical in not only cleaning up contaminated sites and improving the health and quality of life for Ohioans, but also create good jobs for our citizens."

Locally, David Click of Civil and Environmental Consultants, Inc. has submitted a brownfield funding request on behalf of Bill Sickman, owner of more than 41 acres along Kemper Road in Colerain Township.

The site of a gun club and shooting range prior to Sickman's purchase in 1970, the property contains approximately 8,500 tons of soil and sediment impacted by high lead concentrations.

Cost estimates to remediate and prepare the property for redevelopment as park land or homes are $800,000.

According to ODOD Urban Development Division director William Murdock, the Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund has leveraged $24 million in public and private cleanup and has created more than 200 jobs in Ohio.