PRESS RELEASE FROM LAND-OF-SKY REGIONAL COUNCIL:

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $69.3 million in grants for new investments to provide communities with funding necessary to clean and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and create jobs while protecting public health.

Land-of-Sky Regional Council (LOSRC) was awarded a $300,000 EPA Revolving Loan Fund Program Grant. LOSRC plans to loan these funds to continue the remediation process underway at the Chatham Mill Site, a former manufacturing plant, mill and Western Electric plant [in Winston-Salem]. The prospective developer, Chatham Mill Ventures, LLC, plans to rehabilitate the roughly 300,000 square foot plant into approximately 150 multifamily rental units.

The project may result in leveraging additional funding, including New Markets Tax Credits, construction permanent loans, Federal Historic Tax Credit equity, NC Mill Rehab Tax Credit equity and deferred development fees. Assessments are underway and the project will begin redevelopment upon completion of remediation.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. In 2011, EPA’s brownfields program leveraged 6,447 jobs and $2.14 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funds. Since its inception, EPA’s brownfields investments have leveraged more than $18.3 billion in cleanup and redevelopment funding from a variety of public and private sources and have resulted in approximately 75,500 jobs. More than 18,000 properties have been assessed, and over 700 properties have been cleaned up. Brownfields grants also target under-served and low income neighborhoods — places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.