Lake County Receives State Grants for Brownfield Remediation
COLUMBUS – The Lake County Land Bank has been awarded two state brownfield remediation grants for multiple projects across Lake County, announced State Representatives Jamie Callender (R-Concord) and Daniel P. Troy (D-Willowick). The grants have been awarded as part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program and Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program.
Initially created in 2021 under the state’s operating budget and reauthorized in 2023, the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program aims to assist communities with the clean-up of industrial, commercial, and institutional brownfield sites that are underutilized due to known or potentially hazardous substances on the property. Since its inception, the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program has awarded over $490 million to support 462 programs in 84 counties.
Created in conjunction with the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program aims to provide funding to raze dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and revitalize the surrounding properties. Since 2021, more than $270 million in grants have been awarded to support over 5,000 in demolition projects in all 88 counties. Across both programs, the current round of grants will total $53 million and impact 328 projects across Ohio.
“Today’s announcement by the Governor regarding the State’s Department of Development’s Brownfield $300,000 award to the Lake County land Reutilization Corporation to assist with funding the remediation of the site off Blackbrook Road in Painesville Township, together with $1,974,621 to help with our 13 demolition and revitalization project, ongoing throughout Lake County, is of tremendous help and greatly appreciated!” said John Rogers, Executive Director of the Lake County Land Reutilization Corporation. “These awards would not have been possible without Governor DeWine’s leadership together with the support of our legislators in both the House and the Senate. Representative Jamie Callender, Daniel P. Troy, and Senator Jerry Cirnio’s support for this much needed funding will not only help lake county but also be assisting eight other counties in Ohio.”
“Ensuring that we are able to safely clean-up the Blackbrook Road site is important not only for potential economic development but the health of our community,” said Chuck Hillier, Painesville Township Trustee. “Reutilization of brownfield sites allows Painesville Township to maintain its green spaces while offering opportunities to current and prospective employers.”
As part of the sixth round of grants, Lake County has been awarded $300,000 to clean up a 20-acre industrial site on Blackbrook Road in Painesville Township though the Lake County Land Reutilization Corporation, a component of the Lake County Land Bank. The property, formally used by the oil and gas well industry, contains potential environmental hazards ranging from storage ponds to above ground storage tanks and drums. Additionally, $1.97 million has been awarded to assist with the demolition of 13 sites across Lake County (one in Concord, Fairport Harbor, Madison Village, and Willowick, three in Mentor, four in Painesville, and two in Painesville Township). In total, Lake County has received $8.07 million in grants to support seven projects across the six rounds of grant funding.
“Safe and timely remediation of brownfield sites offers opportunities for multi-generational change in a community,” said Callender. “With this investment, Lake County will be able to protect our waterways and green spaces while enabling the use existing infrastructure to promote future economic development.”
“As the ranking member of the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee on Agriculture, Development, and Natural Resources, I strongly advocated for the addition of $500 million in brownfield remediation and demolition funds to the current state operating budget, which had no appropriation for this purpose when it was introduced,” said Troy. “I am pleased that this funding was made available. Lake County and Northeast Ohio have benefited greatly and improved the quality of life for its citizens through the efficient and effective utilization of state funding for not only brownfield cleanup, but also the demolition of aging and dangerous structures. As a county commissioner, I led the efforts to secure several brownfield clean-up grants from the Clean Ohio Program. And, as the former vice-chair of the Lake County Land Bank, I was aware of the need for sufficient funding to demolish deteriorating and unsafe structures that contributed to neighborhood blight in our communities.”