EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant Program

• What are brownfields?

              Brownfields are properties that are or may be contaminated with hazardous substances, pollutants, petroleum or other contaminants that pose a barrier to productive reuse. Brownfields often are in struggling neighborhoods and areas with blight, deteriorated infrastructure, or other challenges. Brownfields may include public or private properties, green spaces, or parks in need of preservation.

   

  What are the benefits of assessment?

              Brownfield properties can have either real or perceived contamination, and some may need remediation due to the presence of a contaminant. The positive impact of brownfield grant funding for a community, of any size, can be significant. By taking unused or blighted properties and transforming them into new business opportunities, housing, or recreational areas, communities become renewed.

  Why create a brownfield program?

              Revitalizing brownfields provides new economic and social benefits to communities, in addition to improving environmental conditions. Reusing stagnant brownfield sites requires special attention. In communities with weak economic or market conditions, socioeconomic barriers, or other challenges, brownfields can remain idle for years. Still, a local community can take several actions even at the most challenging sites to best position brownfields for successful reuse.

  How will grant funding be used to assess properties with potential environmental concerns?

  Grant funding has been awarded by the EPA to perform Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments on identified properties within the city limits and, specifically, the Center City Corridor. As part of the grant implementation process, Bessemer City has hired Terracon Consultants to perform the assessments and manage the grant requirements. Terracon has successfully managed over 127 state and federal brownfields projects in the Carolinas, having established 9 EPA Cooperative Agreements with local communities in North Carolina alone.

  Are there any sites that have already been identified for the project?

  During the grant application process, the City was required to identify three “priority sites” within the Center City Corridor that exemplify the types of potential redevelopment constraints the EPA intends to alleviate when awarding assessment grant funding – a 5.8-acre abandoned spinning mill and textile manufacturing property, a 0.8-acre former oil company warehouse and storage facility, and a 3-acre former processing facility.

  How can the project, “lead to redevelopment, job creation, and new community resources,” as the event mentioned on Facebook?

  The grant allows us to perform environmental assessments on properties that might have contamination (aka brownfields) so that a potential buyer knows what issues they might face in redeveloping the property. Phase I ESAs are a required during commercial property transactions as part of the All Appropriate Inquiries environmental evaluation process to assess liability from contamination. Typically, prospective buyers or lenders will fund these investigations during due diligence, but the perception of past property use (i.e. industrial, oil & gas, dry cleaning, building age, etc.) contributing to environmental concerns often introduces roadblocks to property sales and redevelopment efforts. The availability of these funds will provide a resource to answer these questions in advance of interest from outside parties, clearing a path to redevelopment. The success of the Osage Mill project has opened the door to brownfield redevelopment interest, but we were fortunate to have outside private interest capable of funding those efforts – that is not always the case.

  When did Bessemer City apply for the funding and when did the city find out it won?

  Bessemer City submitted our grant application in November 2023. The award was announced in April 2024 with funds becoming available beginning in October 2024. We began the procurement process to select our environmental consultant in early 2025, with guidance from the EPA. Terracon was selected at the beginning of August 2025 and we began the budget and contracting process with City Council’s approval in fall of 2025.

  For more information, please view the following:

  • Fiscal Year 2026 Frequently Asked Questions for Brownfield Multipurpose, Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup (MARC) Grants
  • Brownfields FAQs

            Community Site Suggestion Form

This is a form for community members who would like to recommend a property for evaluation under the Bessemer City Brownfields Assessment Grant. Forms will be accepted on a rolling basis. Email Jamie Watkins, City Planner/Stormwater Administrator, at jwatkins@bessemercity.com or drop-off at Bessemer City offices.

            Property Owners Site Application

This is a form for property owners who are interested in having their property evaluated under the Bessemer City Brownfields Assessment Grant. Forms will be accepted on a rolling basis. Email Jamie Watkins, City Planner/Stormwater Administrator, at jwatkins@bessemercity.com or drop-off at Bessemer City offices.

Bessemer City Receives $500,000 EPA Brownfields Assessment Grant (February 6th, 2026)

Article from Gaston Gazette

For folks who missed the February kick-off community meeting, the consultant team recorded a short project update on Friday, March 13th.

The first kick-off community meeting for this project took place on Tuesday, February 17th at 5:30 PM at the Allan Farris Community Center.

Here’s what happened:

• Bessemer City staff shared why they applied for the grant and its benefits, and introduced the project team (Terracon and The Asiko Group) that will be working on the grant
• NC Department of Environmental Quality explained their role in the grant process from the state level
• Terracon explained the goals of the Assessment Grant, its opportunities and limitations, what a “brownfield” is, and the forthcoming Environmental Site Assessments
• The Asiko Group offered ways to get involved, including submitting potential commercial properties from around the community to be assessed, and applying to be on the Brownfields Steering Committee

Community Meeting Slideshow Deck