The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that the University of Utah has been selected to receive $2 million in Brownfields Grants to assess, clean up and revitalize a parcel of land in Salt Lake City.
The land, sitting between Utah Transit Authority’s Central Station on 600 West and the Rio Grande Depot at 450 West, is a two-block subject of previous environmental site assessments conducted by the University of Utah. Crews identified harmful contamination on the property such as arsenic and volatile organic compounds. The university plans on remediating the soil and groundwater contamination for future commercial reuse in alignment with Salt Lake City’s Community Revitalization Agency’s Rio Grande Plan.
“The Brownfields program is about turning opportunity into action, and the University of Utah has done exactly that,” said EPA Region 8 Administrator Cyrus Western. “This funding is a smart use of resources that reflects our commitment to both economic growth and environmental responsibility.”
The grants are part of $267 million in Brownfields Grants nationally announced by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. The Brownfields Grants program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.9 billion in grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse.
EPA said it will fund the grants once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by the UofU.
