The City of Oskaloosa Continues Decade Long EPA Grant Partnership with HR Green
The City of Oskaloosa, Iowa has selected HR Green to help implement its FY24 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Brownfields Assessment Grant. This continues a decade-long partnership dedicated to returning potentially-contaminated properties back to productive reuses.
The federal funds allow the community to inventory, prioritize, assess, and conduct cleanup planning on targeted brownfields. EPA defines these sites as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” The agency estimates more than 450,000 brownfields exist throughout the country.
Historical mining operations within Oskaloosa created complex economic, social, and environmental issues that persist today. Improper closures cause lingering questions related to impacts on human health and ecological systems. HR Green has successfully written and secured three EPA Brownfields Assessment Grants totaling $1 million on behalf of the community to address the issues.
The City of Oskaloosa excels at transitioning its blighted properties into assets that expand the local tax base, create jobs, stabilize declining neighborhoods, and protect human health and the environment. High-profile examples include transforming an abandoned mine into a $9.1 million Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel; a vacant lot into the $35.1 million Early Childhood Education and Recreation Center; a vacant lot into a $310,000 Pizza Hut; and a former printing shop into a $900,000 commercial strip mall.
“US EPA’s Assessment Grant program has been a fantastic benefit to Oskaloosa. Not only has it helped facilitate the sale and redevelopment of numerous brownfield sites, it has also provided an online inventory of property statuses, assessments, and related documents to aid in our planning efforts.”
Shawn Christ, AICP | Oskaloosa Development Services Director
HR Green’s award-winning team assists communities in competing for EPA Brownfields Assessment, Cleanup, and Multipurpose Grants. Since the initiative began in 2000, HR Green has helped various communities nationwide secure approximately $16 million, including being perfect in the proposal requests since FY19.
Learn more about HR Green’s brownfield redevelopment services.
About HR Green
Founded in 1913, the HR Green Family of Companies includes HR Green, Inc.; HR Green Pacific, Inc.; HR Green Development, LLC; HR Green Development TX, LLC; HR Green Fiber and Broadband, LLC; and HR Green California, Inc. HR Green has offices throughout the nation providing engineering, technical, and management solutions that build communities and improve lives in: Broadband, Construction, Environmental, Geospatial, Governmental Services, Land Development, Planning, Transportation, and Water. For more information, visit www.hrgreen.com.
