South Omaha hits Jackpot on Brownfields Grants

Now that the EPA has announced their latest round of #Brownfield Grant recipients, many "non-recipients" (there are no losers out there) have a big decision to make.  Should we try again, taking the debrief from EPA and tweaking our proposal; or should we scrap the idea and look to other avenues.  Let's face it.  Putting a proposal together takes resources and with the competitive nature behind brownfield grants, the bar rises each year.  So what is one to do?

One idea is to look at what the successful recipients have been doing.  We're not talking about the one time recipient who may have lucked up.  No, we're talking about the multiple grant recipient; one that has received assessment grants and cleanup grants.  South Omaha is one of those entities.  In 1998 and 2002, South Omaha received a $200,000 “pilot” grant and $150,000 in supplemental funds for assessments of contaminated properties along the riverfront and in north downtown, including the former Asarco lead refinery. An EPA document said that that helped leverage more than $140 million toward restoration of the riverfront, which now includes the Lewis & Clark Landing, a restaurant, National Park Service offices, the Gallup campus and the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.  Another $150,000 brownfields grant in 2007 helped clean up the former Moreco Plating company site at 16th and Webster Streets, making way for expansion of the Creighton University campus.  Finally, the Omaha Brownfields Coalition, consisting of MAPA, Metro Community College, and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (P-MRNRD), has been awarded an $835,000 Brownfields assessment grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address risks and development needs in a portion of the South Omaha Redevelopment Area (SORA). The grant will allow coalition partners, along with the Omaha Chamber’s South Omaha Development Project and numerous community organizations, to take significant steps to address South Omaha brownfields, which are parcels where known or suspected hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants are present. The parcels often become blighted as real or perceived contamination prevents investment and redevelopment.

Look into researching how South Omaha "made it rain."  For more information, check out the following web site - http://www.mapacog.org/current-projects