MEDIA ADVISORY

Mayor: Jennifer P. Dougherty

CONTACT: Nancy Gregg Poss, Public Information Officer, 301-360-3842

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, August 6, 2003

Frederick Gets $200,000 For Brownfields Cleanup

FREDERICK, Md. - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh today presented a $200,000 check to Maryland Department of Environment to assess four sites within the Carroll Creek Park Project area in downtown Frederick for cleanup and redevelopment.

The funds are being made available through a competitive process under the brownfields legislation signed into law by President Bush on January 11, 2002 in Conshohocken, Pa. Brownfields are properties where redevelopment or reuse may be complicated by the real or perceived presence of hazardous substances.

"EPA is pleased to partner with Maryland's outstanding brownfields redevelopment program. Experience nationally has shown that every dollarof federal money spent on brownfields leverages about two-and-a-half dollars in private investment, and every acre of brownfields that is restored saves more than 4.5 acres of green space," said Welsh.

"Even the perception of property being contaminated can be enough to scare away lenders and developers," said Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr."This grant gets the ball rolling on cleaning up, and ultimately redeveloping, underutilized brownfield sites. It helps cities like Frederick grow where the infrastructure already exists."

"This is another example of a great partnership between Federal, State and Local governments setting their energies into a project that means something to a community," said Mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty.

Welsh made the presentation at a 4.3 acre site at East and All Saints streets in downtown Frederick, which is slated for redevelopment. In addition to the Governor and the Mayor, other local dignitaries who were invited to the presentation included: Ken Philbrick, acting secretary, Maryland Department of Environment; William Hall, president pro temp, Frederick City Board of Alderman, and John "Lenny " Thompson, Frederick County Commissioner.