EPA Brownfield Program

The NLEA is in the second year of a two-year Brownfield assessment project.  We have a $200,000 U.S. EPA grant to assess potential petroleum-based Brownfield sites in Antrim, Charlevoix and Emmet Counties. To date, five new businesses have put the Brownfield properties back on the tax rolls, have or will create 212 new jobs, and leveraged $60 million in private investment.

The definition of a brownfield is real property for which the expansion, redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant. 

As an incentive to develop a Brownfield site, we can test a site before a sale through Phase I, Phase II and Baseline Environmental Assessments (BEA).  Sites tested to date include the following:

• Levering:  $18,136 for Phase I and Phase II assessments at a former gas station site.  The property was purchased and a new body shop is constructed. 

• Petoskey: $39,025 for an Underground Storage Tank assessment when underground tanks were discovered.  The building has been renovated and reopened for an antique store.

• East Jordan:  $11,158 for a Phase II assessment at a former furniture stripping site.  The building is being renovated for offices.

• Boyne Falls:  $9,861 for Phase I and Phase II at a former auto transmission shop. The building was sold and is being renovated for a granite counter top business.

• Petoskey:  $9,632 for a Phase II assessment on a former auto dealership site.  Petoskey Pointe, the new development, will include commercial businesses and residential condominiums. 

Our goal is to reuse Brownfield sites and get them back on to the local tax rolls.  Priority is given to projects that are developer driven, involve private investment, create jobs, are key to downtown development, and/or affordable housing will be built on the site.

The application process is simple: Call the NLEA with the property owner’s name and phone number (we need permission to access the site) and the street address of the site.  We’ll ask the Michigan DEQ for clearance (we cannot use federal funds on a site that has already used federal funds).  Our U.S. EPA pre-qualified consulting firm, AKT Peerless, does the assessments.