Orange County Receives Brownfields 2011 Assessment Grants

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Orange County two $200,000 Brownfields Assessment Grants. One grant, a community-wide hazardous substances grant, will provide funds to conduct twelve (12) Phase I and ten (10) Phase II environmental site assessments. The other is a petroleum grant to aid in conducting similar tasks where there is potential petroleum contamination. Grant funds will also be used for community outreach, cleanup planning, and community health monitoring.

The focus of assessments will be the Pine Hills community (population 41,764), which is an older suburb of Orlando. Many of Pine Hills' residents have moved to newer neighborhoods, leaving the community in a state of decline. Brownfield assessments are expected to facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of properties into more economically sustaining mixed-use commercial and residential development.