County, city awarded a combined $1.4 million to clean up brownfields

Wednesday, April 09, 2008
By Kristin Longley
klongley@citpat.com—768-4917

The county and city of Jackson have won a combined $1.4 million in grants from the federal government to deal with potentially hazardous sites that could be redeveloped, officials announced Tuesday.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the Jackson Brownfield Redevelopment Authority $1 million for cleanup and the county Brownfield Redevelopment Authority two $200,000 grants—one for hazardous substance testing and one for petroleum testing.

``This is a big deal for the city and county,’’ said Deborah Stuart, the city’s economic development project manager. ``There’s a lot of money from the federal government being funneled into Jackson County.’’

When manufacturing companies leave an area, they often leave potentially hazardous substances lurking beneath vacant buildings that were once thriving industrial sites. Cleaning up the leftovers is expensive, but the grants help attract developers.

Brownfield programs such as the city’s and county’s allow developers to assess and clean up those properties, known as brownfields. The goal is to sustainably reuse the old sites and minimize neighborhood blight.

The city brownfield authority would like to focus its grant funds along the Grand River and at its former manufacturing sites, Stuart said.

There were 60 applicants nationwide for the cleanup funds, and the city was one of 12 that was awarded the grants.

The county authority is focusing on the Wildwood Avenue corridor where the former Plastigage factory and TRW Automotive sites were located, and at the former Michigan Industrial Holdings Inc. site on Leroy Street, said Amy Torres, executive director.

The grant application said widespread groundwater problems exist near the former TRW plant and near the former landfills on airport property.

The brownfield authorities plan to promote all those sites—along with the new cleanup and assessment grants—at the National Brownfields Conference in May in Detroit with the hope that a developer will take interest, she said.

The grant money is crucial to Jackson County’s economic development because of its rich automotive and industrial history, Torres said. There are more than 100 brownfield properties in the area.

``This is a great economic tool for us,’’ she said. ``We’re really lucky to have access to these funds.’’