MISSOULA — A Montana city received more than $1.1 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clean up industrial sites.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that Missoula was among 151 communities nationwide to share $65.6 million in grants, The Missoulian reported.
The money is distributed through the agency’s Brownfields program, which funds site cleanups where future use is affected by contaminants.
Missoula has received $5 million in EPA Brownfields grants since 1998, which the city used to complete about 25 environmental assessments and 20 cleanups.
“These sites are now thriving as housing, business centers and recreational assets,” said Greg Sopkin, an EPA regional administrator. “There’s no community in the West that does Brownfields work as well as Missoula.”
The new grant will include $326,725 for contaminant removal from the Montana Rail Link Triangle site.
The city converted the site into Montana Rail Link Park and aims to build affordable and market-rate housing on the property, which remains contaminated with heavy metals and other chemicals, according to the city’s grant application.
The project, which will also use $66,919 in Missoula Redevelopment Agency funds, is scheduled to be completed in September 2021.