EPA Announces $2.4 Million in Grants to Assess and Cleanup Communities in North Carolina
Washington – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the awarding of $2.4 million in Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment and Cleanup (MAC) grants to accelerate the cleanup of polluted sites across North Carolina. With these funds, EPA is investing directly in American communities to cleanup and redevelop blighted properties, delivering on the Trump Administration’s commitment to ensure that clean air, land, and water go hand-in-hand with economic growth and opportunity.
“EPA is focused on delivering practical results that transform contaminated properties into clean, valuable spaces that spark economic growth and that directly benefit American families,” said Acting Assistant Administrator for Land and Emergency Management Thomas Croci. “Addressing environmental contamination and reusing brownfield properties revitalizes neighborhoods, drives local job creation, and unleashes new economic opportunities. EPA is proud to partner with local communities to ensure they have the cleanest air, land, and water as we power the Great American Comeback.”
“These brownfield grants represent opportunities to reimagine contaminated properties as assets that meet the needs of communities,” said Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber. “When you take a blighted property, clean it up, and bring the community together to figure out how the property should be redeveloped, you can generate a lot of excitement.”
Clean air, land, and water for all Americans is the first pillar of President Trump and Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback initiative. These grants put that commitment into action while simultaneously powering economic growth in communities across the country. Selected applications for the 2026 Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, and Cleanup Grants and RLF supplemental funding in North Carolina include:
$500,000 Assessment Grant to City of Reidsville to conduct 15 Phase I and seven Phase II environmental site assessments (ESAs). The target area for this grant is the Depot District. Priority sites include a 0.46-acre former laundry/dry cleaning facility and the 35,000-square-foot Former Chase Bag Building, which operated as a textile manufacturing facility.
$500,000 Cleanup Grant to City of Lenoir to clean up the Former Broyhill Property. The 14.8-acre cleanup site operated as a furniture manufacturing complex from the early 1900s to 2007. Some of the site structures were demolished, and it was converted into a recycling center, which operated through 2012 and has remained vacant since. The site is contaminated with inorganic contaminants.
$500,000 Assessment Grant to City of Wilson to conduct 12 Phase I and seven Phase II ESAs. The target areas for this grant forms the historic core of Wilson. Priority sites include the 478,000-square-foot former Wilson Mall, the approximately 5-acre Montrose/Wall Recycling site, and the approximately 1.1-acre former White’s Tire property that houses buildings originally constructed for tobacco processing.
$367,605 Cleanup Grant to the Mainspring Conservation Trust to clean up the Former Simpson Gas and Oil Site in Town of Franklin. The 0.67-acre cleanup site operated as a fuel station and bulk oil distributor from the 1950s through the 1980s. It contained four above-ground storage tanks for over 50 years and smaller underground storage tanks from the 1980s and 1990s. The site has been vacant since 2017 and is contaminated with petroleum, inorganic contaminants, and volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.
$500,000 Assessment Grant to Pitt County to conduct 15 Phase I and eight Phase II ESAs. The target areas for this grant are City of Greenville and Town of Ayden. Priority sites include the 1.97-acre Former Highway Patrol Station in Greenville and the 374-acre Ayden Rail site formerly used for agricultural purposes.
Grant recipients with viable cleanup projects ready for work will help communities continue their work to carry out cleanup and redevelopment projects on contaminated brownfield properties.
View the list of selected applicants here.
Background
Since its launch in 1995, EPA’s Brownfields Program has funded the assessment, cleanup, and revitalization of contaminated properties. Distributing this latest round of awards will push the program's total historical funding past $3 billion. To date, brownfields investments leveraged more than $45 billion in cleanup and redevelopment. Over the years, the relatively small investment of federal funding was able to leverage, from both public and private sources, more than 228,900 jobs. Through fiscal year 2025, on average, $19.47 was leveraged for each EPA Brownfields Grant dollar awarded through multipurpose, assessment, cleanup, and revolving loan fund cooperative agreements.
EPA anticipates that it will make these awards once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by selected applicants.
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