WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) today applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for awarding three brownfield grants to the cities of Greenville and Wilson, North Carolina. The grants, valued at $400,000 and $200,000 respectively, will help fund the cleanup of the former Imperial Tobacco Outparcel Property and the former Imperial Tobacco Warehouse Property in Greenville, and complete environmental site assessments in Wilson.
Butterfield said, “The hazardous effects of brownfields have historically impacted the physical and economic health of rural and low-income communities nationwide. The effort being made by the EPA to test, cleanup, and, eventually, help redevelop these local sites will drive much-needed economic development in these cities. I congratulate Greenville and Wilson on its receipt of these grants.”
Hazardous substances and petroleum grant funds will be used to clean up the former Imperial Tobacco properties, both located at 710 Atlantic Avenue. The parcels are part of a larger property that operated as a tobacco processing plant from about 1900 to 1977. The plant used coal as a source of power until 1929, switching to fuel oil until operations ceased. Two above-ground and underground storage tanks remain on the property. Surface and subsurface soil in the vicinity of the tanks has been impacted by total petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals.
In Wilson, community-wide petroleum grant funds will be used to conduct at least seven Phase I and four Phase II environmental site assessments. Funds also will be used to expand the city’s inventory of sites, conduct community outreach activities, and develop cleanup plans for area sites.
In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country cleanup and revitalize brownfields sites. Under this law, the EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants through four competitive grant programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism.