Grants available to investigate contaminated properties in Wisconsin
MADISON – Wisconsin communities with properties that have known or suspected environmental contamination have until Nov. 3 to apply for state grants to assist them in starting activities to return the properties to productive use.
Brownfield Site Assessment Grants (SAG) are available from the Department of Natural Resources to help municipalities jump start investigation activities at brownfields, which are abandoned, idle or underused industrial or commercial properties where redevelopment is hindered by real or perceived contamination.
Applications and instructions for the grants will be available on the Brownfield Site Assessment Grants page of the DNR Web site August 20.
Applications for both large and small grants are due November 3, 2008. Small grants range from $2,000 up to $30,000 and large grants range from $30,000 up to $100,000.
Brownfield properties are located in every type of community across Wisconsin. During the last round of grants, nearly half of the awards were to rural communities or counties.
Any local government (city, village, town, county, redevelopment authority, community development authority or housing authority) or tribe is eligible to complete an application for a grant. While SAGs do not fund cleanups, the grants do fund the following activities:
* Environmental site assessments.
* Site investigations.
* Demolition.
* Asbestos removal associated with demolition.
* Removal of tanks and drums.
Since 2000, the DNR has awarded $13.3 million in 398 grants to 187 communities around the state for work on 1,400 acres of land. The state legislature first authorized $1.45 million for the SAG program in 1999 after the Brownfields Study Group, a state-wide advisory task force, recommended the program in their 1998 final report.
More information about Site Assessment Grants, including handy tips on whether a property is eligible for a grant, is available on DNR Remediation and Redevelopment (RR) Program Web page.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Savagian, (608) 261-6422
