JEDCO, EPA Extends Brownfield Assessment Program; Expands Assessment Area to All of Jefferson Parish

(AVONDALE, La) –The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently approved JEDCO’s request to expand the area of eligibility for a $600,000 Brownfield Assessment Grant. The federal grant, designed to boost business attraction, jobs, and investment at vacant and underutilized industrial and commercial properties, will now be offered across all of Jefferson Parish. The grant funding will available for Brownfield assessments through 2025.
Awarded in 2021, the federal grant was used to assess possible Brownfield sites in Avondale, Bridge City, parts of Marrero, and the City of Westwego. To date, it has funded 13 Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments on the West Bank, including the long-vacant parcels once associated with the former Knight Celotex building, former Tenaris site, and the former Johns Manville facility. There is over $300,000 still available for additional assessments across the Parish.

Brownfield sites, many of which are likely contaminated by hazardous substances, pollutants and/or petroleum, require environmental assessments before a new business can redevelop the property. Environmental assessments can be a costly deterrent for prospective businesses, causing a lack of opportunity for job growth and revitalization of some of the most economically disadvantaged communities in Jefferson Parish.

Access to this federal grant helps to eliminate the financial barriers that a prospective buyer or developer may face with a Brownfield site. The funds will save prospective businesses time and money. This grant has the potential to increase interest in long-vacant properties with the ultimate goal of business attraction and community revitalization.

“These Brownfield assessments are an important first step toward redeveloping long-dormant industrial properties across the Parish,” said JEDCO President and CEO Jerry Bologna. “We’ve seen the positive impact of how this federal grant has served the West Bank. The extension and expansion of the Brownfield assessment grant provides Jefferson Parish with a tremendous opportunity to now reinvigorate long-dormant properties across our entire community to a higher and better use, which will create jobs, investment, and economic growth.”

The EPA selected 151 communities to receive 154 grant awards totaling $66.5 million in Brownfields funding through its Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) Grants. Approximately 50 percent of selected recipients received EPA Brownfields Grant funding for the first time, like JEDCO, and more than 85 percent are located in or serving small communities. JEDCO and LDEQ were the only two organizations in Louisiana to receive this type of grant from the EPA. Since its inception in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has provided nearly $1.76 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse. Read the original EPA press release here.

JEDCO selected Leaaf Environmental and Terracon to provide all Brownfield site assessments. Projects must be commercial, industrial or multi-family. To be considered for a Phase I or Phase II environmental assessment, projects must meet a list of selection criteria and considerations, including number of new permanent quality jobs, investment generated, community and political support, vision for redevelopment, and positive impact to the surrounding community. The projects should also fall within the targeted industry clusters outlined within the Jefferson EDGE 2025, the long-term economic development strategic plan for Jefferson Parish.

Interested applicants can email brownfields@jedco.org or CLICK HERE for more information.