WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today announced that up to $175,000 has been awarded to the City of Cleveland to prevent, assess, clean up, and reuse brownfields. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Brownfields Program is aimed at safely cleaning up and reusing properties that may experience complications in redevelopment due to the potential presence of hazardous materials or contaminants.

 Kinsman and Lower Buckeye, two neighborhoods located in the Cleveland Opportunity Corridor, have been selected as the Brownsfield Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program recipient.

“Brownfields – including those properties left behind after a dilapidated building has been demolished – have no place in Cleveland neighborhoods where children walk to school and businesses seek new customers,” Brown said. “Two neighborhoods in the Cleveland Opportunity Corridor – Kinsman and Lower Buckeye – will be able to transform brownfields into fertile grounds for new commercial development, parks, and greenspace as a result of the EPA pilot project.”

According to the EPA, the Cleveland-based project will create a strategic plan to revitalize the area surrounding brownfield sites and create community-based partnerships with underserved or economically disadvantaged neighborhoods that experience the environmental and public health challenges related to brownfields.

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