Associated Press
Mississippi city gets $492,000 to map contaminated sites
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi city is getting a $492,000 federal grant to list and assess contaminated and abandoned industrial and commercial sites and to get local residents interested.
Target areas are downtown Natchez and the Adams County Industrial Park, the Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release announcing the grant on Tuesday.
“This EPA grant will jumpstart a long-sought effort to revitalize polluted areas of Natchez, including the Titan Tire site, for potential economic development and job creation,” said U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a Mississippi Republican.
Adams County and the Friends of Riverfront Natchez are working with the city.
The brownfields assessment grant covers developing a geographic information system-based site inventory, working up environmental assessments of the sites, and engaging the community.
A report in 2018 said the city was paying about $85,000 a year for security at the building, which has been vacant since 2001.
“EPA’s brownfields program provides critical funding to lift up and protect underserved and overburdened communities,” said Carol Monell, EPA’s acting deputy regional administrator. “We commend the City of Natchez and community leaders for your efforts to address and improve the environmental, public health, economic and social impacts associated with contaminated and abandoned sites.”