EPA announces over $11.6M in funding to assess and clean up communities across Colorado
DENVER — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on May 16, 2025, that seven recipients across Colorado have been selected to receive over $11.6 million in Brownfields Grants to assess, clean up and revitalize local lands.
“This Brownfields grant funding is a smart investment in Colorado's future - cleaning up historic contamination while laying the groundwork for economic growth,” said EPA Region 8 Administrator Cyrus Western. “By empowering communities to turn abandoned properties into productive assets, we're strengthening local economies and ensuring clean land for generations to come.”
“Contamination at sites in our communities threatens public health and inhibits the use of those sites for productive use,” said U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. “This funding will help Colorado communities safely clean up polluted properties, protect their health, and rebuild in a way that creates jobs and economic opportunity.”
“Cleaning up contaminated properties reduces the environmental and health risks for the community and opens the door for new economic development,” said U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper. “This funding will help us safely clean up these sites and recharge the surrounding communities.”
“Redevelopment of Brownfields properties is often an insurmountable challenge for many communities, which may lack the resources to assess and clean up these contaminated properties,” said Tracie White, CDPHE Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division Director. “For this reason, CDPHE is thrilled that so many Colorado communities are receiving support from the EPA to clean up and redevelop their Brownfields properties. The Brownfields grant support provided by the EPA is instrumental in supporting community revitalization efforts, not only in Colorado but across the country. The award of EPA Brownfields funds is an exciting opportunity for the recipient communities, allowing them to return blighted properties to productive use and provide community benefits. CDPHE is excited to continue our partnership with EPA Region 8 and Colorado communities to facilitate Brownfields redevelopment across Colorado.”
These grants are part of $267 million in Brownfields Grants nationally announced by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. This funding put the agency’s commitment to protect human health and the environment into action while remaining good stewards of tax dollars and advancing policies to energize the economy.
The following recipients in Colorado were selected to receive grant funding for Brownfields cleanup projects:
-
City of Canon City - $1,533,000 Cleanup Grant: Funding will be used to clean up a property that used to be a dry-cleaning business and is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene. Grant funds will also clean up a previous steel manufacturing site that is contaminated with heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
-
City of Cortez - $500,000 Cleanup Grant: Funding will be used to clean up the Cortez Municipal Airport, where three unused buildings on the property are contaminated with asbestos, lead-based paint and petroleum.
-
City of Fountain - $1,924,580 Cleanup Grant: Funds will be used to complete asbestos abatement from a vacant property that will pave the way for safe demolition and redevelopment that meets community needs.
-
Jaffa Opera House Foundation - $1,897,300 Cleanup Grant: Grant funds will be used to remediate asbestos contamination from the historic Jaffa Opera House in Trinidad. The Jaffa Opera House Foundation plans to revitalize the building and offer a mixed-use space on what is currently a vacant site.
-
City of Lamar - $764,838 Cleanup Grant: Grant funding will be used to clean up asbestos contamination from a vacant commercial building in downtown Lamar, redeveloping the property into a mixed-use site. Funding will also be used to complete asbestos abatement at a historic warehouse property.
-
Volunteers of America National Services - $4,000,000 Cleanup Grant: Grant funds will be used to clean up asbestos contamination at the Sunset Park Apartments located in downtown Denver. The reuse strategy is to preserve and upgrade the apartment’s current units, enhancing safety and modernizing the building’s energy efficiency systems.
-
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment - $1,000,000 Revolving Loan Fund (RLF): Funding will be used to provide up to three loans and one subgrant to support cleanup activities through CDPHE’s RLF program.
(The Sunset Park Apartments Brownfields site located in downtown Denver.)
Brownfields grants are a powerful catalyst for local economic growth. Communities in Colorado have used previous EPA grants to assess, clean up and attract new development. Nationally, Brownfields funding delivers proven results.
Learn more about EPA’s Brownfields and Land Revitalization grant opportunities.
Background
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided nearly $2.9 billion in Brownfields Grants to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse. To date, Brownfields investments leveraged more than $42 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 220,500 jobs.
A full list of the 2025 applicants selected for funding is available online.
EPA anticipates that it will make these awards once all legal and administrative requirements are satisfied by selected recipients.