U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announces EPA funding for south St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg became one of only five communities in the U.S. to receive grants from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up contaminated sites in the city, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced Friday.
The two grants, totally $400,000, will go toward conducting 20 environmental assessments and support cleanup planning at eight sites in the Southside Community Redevelopment Area. St. Petersburg is one of only five communities nationwide to receive this grant funding.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields grants will boost jobs and business opportunities in South St. Petersburg by cleaning up properties that need it through environmental remediation,” said Castor, who championed the federal grants. “Redevelopment in south St. Petersburg will open up all sorts of economic opportunities in neighborhoods where new jobs are needed most.”
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said, “We are very pleased to receive this competitively awarded grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. My administration will concentrate the investment of these funds in the south St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area, to add to the community development tools we have already established with the goals of increasing investment, supporting job creation and entrepreneurship, focusing on workforce training and development, while eradicating blight and environmental hazards for our residents.”
The news comes on the heels of Thursday’s City Council meeting during which members unanimously approved development agreements with two local companies – EMP Industries and Euro Cycles – to expand business operations in south St. Petersburg’s Commerce Park. Upon development of the site, 65 new jobs will be created for the area. These jobs, serving the newly established south St. Pete CRA, will satisfy federal job creation criteria for the Commerce Park.