Wednesday: EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber and Saraland Mayor Joe McDonald to Highlight Significant Brownfields Investments in South Alabama
Wednesday: EPA Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber and Saraland Mayor Joe McDonald to Highlight Significant Brownfields Investments in South Alabama
EPA Region 4 Press Office - (404) 562-8400, region4press@epa.gov
SARALAND, AL (September 23, 2026) – On Wednesday, September 30, 2026, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Kevin McOmber and City of Saraland Mayor Joe McDonald will join state and local officials to highlight $4 million in Brownfields funding. This investment includes $2.6 million to the City of Saraland to clean up the Northern Parcel Source Area of the future Land Sports and Recreation Complex site. The 100-acre location was previously utilized by a local construction company in the 1960s and 1970s for surface mining of sand and clay materials.
Likewise, the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission will receive $1.5 million to assess properties for potential redevelopment. Assessment activities will focus on the City of Mobile's Riverfront Industrial Area, the City of Bay Minette, and the City of Brewton and its adjacent unincorporated and commercial areas.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 2:30 pm CST
WHERE: The Land Sports and Recreation Complex, 7365 Celeste Road, Saraland, AL 36571
WHO:
Kevin McOmber, Administrator, Region 4, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Joe McDonald, Mayor, City of Saraland, AL
Edward F. Poolos, Director, Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM)
Tom Piper, Assistant Executive Director, South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (SARPC)
RSVP / MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Credentialed media planning to attend should RSVP to region4press@epa.gov by 7 p.m. CST, Tuesday, September 29, 2026, for logistical arrangements.
Background:
EPA’s Brownfields Program began in 1995 and has provided over $3 billion in grant funding to assess and clean up contaminated properties and return blighted properties to productive reuse.
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, revolving loan fund and cleanup cooperative agreements.
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