Just over a dozen people attended the Brownfield Assessment Grant meeting last night in the County Building.
A brownfield is described by the Environmental Protection Agency as a property where the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
The $600,000 grant is shared between the City of Plymouth, Bourbon and Marshall County and will inventory potentially properties that may have hazardous substances and or petroleum contamination on them.
Bruce Cater Associates, environmental consultants were selected to handle the project which includes the inventory, Phase 1 and 11 environmental site assessments, cleanup plans and community engagement.
Len Hinrichs from Bruce Cater will sever as the project manager. He was in the county in November and created a list of 68 potential sites. It was noted that the draft list was a living document and sites would be added and deleted before they had a finalized list.
Participants were encouraged to add additional suspected sites to list for Plymouth, Bourbon, Argos, Culver, Bremen, LaPaz, Tippecanoe and any other locations. After those lists were finished each participant was given 6 dots and asked to place dots on the sites they felt were most important.
Bruce Carter and Associates listed some benefits of Brownfield redevelopment including job creation, removal of blight, increased property value, and increased tax base.
Anyone interested in suggesting a property for consideration should contact Ralph Booker the County and City Plan Director.
