The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency selected seven communities in Alabama to receive grants totaling more than $4,179,000. The funding comes through what’s called Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant programs, or MARC for short.
A White House release says…
“These investments are part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to driving over $470 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom powered by good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.”
The release says The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) has been selected to receive a $1,000,000 Revolving Loan Fund Grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which ADEM will provide loans to support cleanup activities.
The City of Aliceville has been selected to receive a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. The money will be used to prepare four cleanup plans and to conduct community engagement activities including developing a Community Engagement Plan. The target area for this grant is the City of Aliceville. Priority sites include the former Aliceville Cotton Mill, the former Aliceville Community Health Clinic, a former National Guard armory, and the former Branco Oil Station.
C3 of Northwest Alabama, Inc. has been selected to receive a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Community-wide grant funds will be used to conduct 15 Phase I and seven Phase II environmental site assessments. Grant funds also will be used to prepare four cleanup plans and to conduct community engagement activities. The target areas for this grant are the City of Fayette and the Town of Brilliant. Priority sites include the 22-acre former Fayette Cotton Mill and the 19-acre former Brilliant Mine.
The Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority has been selected to receive a grant of nearly $700,000 grant to clean up buildings at the Craig Field Flight Line site on Craig Industrial Parkway near the City of Selma. The cleanup site was part of the former Craig Air Force Base, which operated from 1940 through 1977. During this time, the historical base operations included pilot training during World War II and the Korean War, as well as aircraft service and maintenance. Site contaminants include volatile organic compounds in soil vapors, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the soil.
REV Birmingham, Inc. has been selected to receive a nearly $500,000 Brownfields Cleanup Grant. The funds will be used to clean up the Mays Properties in the City of Birmingham's Woodlawn Community. The cleanup site was formerly a dry cleaner and clothing dye operation, then operated as a gas station and transmission repair shop from 1961 to 2014.
South Alabama Regional Planning Commission has been selected for a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Those funds also will be used to inventory sites, develop four cleanup plans and two site reuse plans, and support community outreach activities. The target areas for this grant are Mobile, Baldwin, and Escambia Counties with a focus on the Cities of Atmore and Creola.
The West Alabama Regional Commission has been selected for a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant. Those dollars will be used to prepare six cleanup plans and to conduct community engagement activities including developing a Community Involvement Plan. The target areas for this grant are the Cities of Aliceville and Greensboro and the West Tuscaloosa neighborhood in the City of Tuscaloosa. Priority sites include a former cotton mill, a former catfish processing plant, a former ice cream plant, and a former junkyard.