After a presentation to the Cumberland Valley Area Development Board (CVADB), the city of Lynch was awarded the Brownsfield Grant with an updated phase 1 and phase 2 of the grant. The award will aid the city’s ongoing efforts to restore old city owned buildings, including the old clinic building, in an effort to impact the economic area in a positive way.
The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection recently announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded three brownfield grants to Kentucky totaling $1.9 million to fund the assessment and cleanup of properties with environmental problems.
Lynch Chief of Police and Special Projects Director Michael Nunley said phase 1 of the grant will enable engineers to determine if a building is a feasible site and does, in fact, have environmental concerns.
“For example they may look for mold or asbestos in the old buildings,” said Nunley. “Phase 2 of the grant, the engineers will specify the problems and do a budget on how much it will take to fix the structures.”
Nunley said phase 3 of the grant, which will have to be applied for, will be the actual granting of the funds to make the necessary cleanup and repairs.
Brownfields are properties which are abandoned or under-utilized due to real or perceived environmental contamination. They can include old factories, former gas stations, mine-scarred lands and abandoned dry cleaning establishments. There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in the country.
“This was a collaborative effort between the mayor, office staff and myself in obtaining this grant,” said Nunley. “We heard about it and CVADB helped us with the application process.
“If we can get some of the old buildings here in Lynch cleaned up, and potentially renovated, we can offer them to potential businesses and make an great impact on our economy here in Lynch, which is greatly needed.”
Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510, ext.115, nsizemore@civitasmedia.com
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