The state of Wyoming has been approved to receive $1.4 million in order to restore defunct industrial sites statewide that involve possible soil or water contamination. The cash injection has been approved and is provided by the U.S. EPA.
“The great Children’s Museum of Cheyenne that will soon sit atop a former brownfield site demonstrates the value of these projects,” said Doug Benevento, head of the EPA regional office.
In large part, the money will be spread across three different recipients. Douglas will receive $300,000 for an environmental risk assessment of a rail yard, an oil depot, a burned out building and abandoned gas stations. $800,000 of the funding will be allocated to the Wyoming Business Council to establish a revolving fund to aid the state Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ). WDEQ will receive the remainder of the funds, $325,000 specifically, to be put towards review of the former Acme Power Plant. The agency will study soil and river sediment, as well as surface and groundwater.
According to Todd Parfitt, director of the WDEQ, the goal is to bring the various properties back to a point where they may be repurposed for future use.
“These funds provide the resources to address contamination at historically impacted sites and will help bring these properties back into productive use while protecting human health and the environment,” Parfitt said.
According to EPA, the agency’s brownfields program gives priority to locations that are hindering economic growth for the state. Wyoming was given three of 144 total grants distributed by EPA.
