City receives $2.2 million from EPA

(April 8, 2008) - Oklahoma City was awarded $2.2 million in Brownfields grants yesterday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The funds will be used to assess and cleanup City properties contaminated by asbestos building materials, former oil and gas exploration, scrap metal facilities and other industrial activities.

“We plan to continue our focus on Oklahoma City’s eastside, the Core to Shore area, downtown and the Oklahoma River to help make contaminated sites viable for development,” Grants Manager Jimmie Hammontree said.  “As many as a dozen properties in these areas could benefit from the new EPA grants.”

The money comes in the form of a $200,000 grant for Phase I/II environmental site assessments and a $2 million revolving loan fund grant to support cleanup efforts for sites contaminated with hazardous substances.

“We love working with the EPA, they’ve been so helpful in many of Oklahoma City’s projects through the last few years,” Mayor Mick Cornett said.  “Very few people know the Skirvin Hilton Hotel might not have happened if not for financial help from EPA’s Brownfields Grants.”

In 2007, Midland Center Limited Partnership received a $1 million loan from the City’s Brownfields program to remove asbestos from the Dowell Center in downtown Oklahoma City.  And in 2004, the Skirvin Hilton Hotel received a $719,000 Brownfields loan for asbestos removal.

Brownfields are properties that have environmental contamination that complicates or hinders redevelopment.  The City’s Brownfields program is designed to help spur the assessment, cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated properties.