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Oct 1, 2001 12:00 PM

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman has announced that the agency will provide $4 million in financial assistance to clean up contamination from leaking underground storage tanks around the nation. The EPA expects to select up to 40 pilot projects to help states and cities clean up these properties and foster redevelopment by returning them to productive economic and public use.

“These sites have caused problems that in many cases have very costly solutions. With this pilot money, recipients will be able to accelerate cleanup and return properties to viable use,” said Whitman. “Fostering cleanup at these sites not only restores the land but also helps protect our water resources from petroleum contamination. The new pilot program is similar to our Brownfields initiatives in that it can help revitalize industrial areas and communities.”

The pilot project, called USTfields, involves abandoned or underused industrial and commercial properties with perceived or actual contamination from petroleum that has leaked from underground storage tanks (USTs).

EPA is inviting states, territories, and federally recognized Indian tribes as well as eligible intertribal consortia to compete for these pilots. Each selected pilot will receive up to $100,000 in Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund money. The deadline for submitting proposals for the USTfields pilots is Oct 22, 2001. The announcement of the selected pilots will take place by the end of the year.