CINCINNATI — Cincinnati officials, alongside members of The Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority, announced plans to remediate and re-develop industrial sites in the Beekman Corridor and the Spring Grove Corridor.
Two federal grants are going toward making this possible. Cincinnati's Office of Environment & Sustainability received a $500,000 grant from the US EPA, while the Port received an $800,000 grant from the US EPA. Both grants were specifically designed to help assess and clean brownfield locations.
In addition, Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said an additional $16 million has been secured in state cleanup grants.
The EPA defines a brownfield as an area "complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant." The agency estimates there are over 450,000 brownfield sites in the country.
The first rounds of funding for the multi-year remediation steps will go toward conducting nearly 40 site assessments throughout the city, with a focus on neighborhoods most impacted by the hazards that can come with living near a brownfield site.
"For years, Camp Washington and the Beekman Corridor, Spring Grove Village and other neighborhoods on the west side of Cincinnati have borne the burden of the industrial past as companies have shut down and moved their operations to other sites," said Meeka Owens, Cincinnati council member. "Despite the organizations that have left, the communities still exist and have continued to thrive. But the residents who remain have faced the consequences of contamination and environmental challenges left behind by the industries that were once here."
While city officials were working on the 2023 Green Cincinnati Plan, they repeatedly heard from community members that defunct, dangerous and environmentally challenging properties plaguing neighborhoods were a major priority for residents in the steps towards a more sustainable city, Owens said.
The plan for which sites will receive the most attention as plans to clean up hazards continue is not yet clear; Pureval said the nearly 40 site assessments the city plans to conduct will help to point officials in the right direction.
Owens said some priority neighborhoods are already clear, however.
"Our priority communities are those that have been historically underrepresented and have endured a disproportionate amount of environmental justice," she said.
Camp Washington, for example, was ranked as "extreme" in all but one category considered in its evaluation. Categories considered were: cancer and respiratory disease risks, ozone concentration, traffic exposure and diesel particulates in the air, proximity to potentially toxic industrial activity, proximity to hazardous sites and proximity to waste treatment and disposal facilities.
The goal is to create a more sustainable city, but it's not just about the environmental impacts — Pureval said there are human impacts and economic impacts to create as well.
"The vision is site acquisition to create opportunities to create advanced manufacturing while also investing in place-based opportunities to create a neighborhood around that economic development," said Pureval. "It's the same strategy that we're deploying in other parts of the city. Because of the impact of remote work, we are trying to create economic opportunities where people can work but surround it by neighborhood amenities like housing and neighborhood business districts so people are more inclined to work close to where they live and therefore negate any negative impacts on the earnings tax."
The impact of many of these sites disproportionately affect Cincinnatians of color and working class, creating an environmental impact on communities still working to thrive around the shell of an industrial past, city leaders said.
"Cincinnati's prominence as a Midwest manufacturing hub has lost its luster since the 1960s due to suburbanization and offshoring and others," said Todd Castellini. "If you travel along the I-75 corridor, the Mill Creek corridor, brownfield target areas, you will find a path of spotted decay where there once was tens of thousands of high-paying jobs."
Anthony Smith, a Millvale resident who currently works for the Groundwork Ohio River Valley on sustainability projects, said environmental racism, pollution and blight in the form of brownfield sites are common in his neighborhood. He said the five years he spent training, getting certified and obtaining schooling to work for the environmentally-focused non-profit taught him to look at brownfields differently.
"Now when I see a brownfield, I don't see just, like, an abandoned field or a vacant lot," said Smith. "I see potential in something that could be there and something that's useful for the whole community. I see stuff like gardens, more jobs and trees — hopefully, we can get more trees."
Owens added that the EPA has estimated that 11% to 12% of the country's opportunities to build more housing to offset the affordable housing crisis will come from brownfield sites that have been remediated and re-imagined.
The state has budgeted around $350 million to go specifically toward remediating these sites and transforming them into spaces communities can actually use and enjoy, said State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D).
Though funds for it aren't included in the grants announced during Thursday's press conference, the old Consolidated Grain & Barge Company site in Millvale is already scheduled to be imploded on July 29. The location sits along the Beekman Street corridor and is considered a brownfield site.
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