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South Central wins EPA assessment grant; Shelbyville urged to nominate stalled properties
Summary
South Central Tennessee Development District has $1.5 million in EPA brownfields assessment funds available for Phase I/II testing; city staff were asked to provide a point of contact and identify interested property owners.
South Central Tennessee Development District officials told the Shelbyville mayor and city council during a July study session that the district has received a $1,500,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessment grant to pay for environmental site assessments across the district.
Terry Lee, with the South Central Tennessee Development District, said the grant “pays for phase 1 environmental site assessments” and phase 2 testing including drilling and soil and groundwater tests, asbestos and lead-based paint sampling. He told council members the grant is an economic-development tool the city can use to move stalled properties toward redevelopment.
The grant covers Phase I and Phase II assessments and can be used on former gas stations, dry cleaners, manufacturing facilities, old restaurants and similar previously developed sites that may have contamination. Lee said the district has “up to 4 years to spend it down” and that “all we need is the owner's permission to come on the property” to begin the process.
Misty Baker, who identified herself as a South Central employee, said she and Lee can provide outreach to property owners and that the district had identified a couple of Shelbyville priority sites during the application phase, including a former Dahl's Food factory and a former pencil/den(?) manufacturing facility.
City Manager Scott Collins was asked to provide a staff point of contact to coordinate with South Central; Lee requested that the city designate someone who can receive status updates and help identify owners who are willing to participate. Lee said awards are effectively first-come, first-served and that there is no required local match for the assessment work.
Lee also outlined limits on downstream cleanup funding: the EPA assessment grant does not cover sites already on the National Priorities List (Superfund). He said Tennessee has a state cleanup program that can provide remediation funds — he referenced a state program with cleanup grants capped around $500,000 per site — but said eligibility requires ownership by an eligible entity or other site control arrangements.
Discussion only: council members did not take a formal vote or adopt an action at the study session. Lee and Baker left business cards and asked the city to identify sites and owners to move assessments forward.
Why it matters: assessment grants can remove a key barrier to redevelopment by clarifying environmental conditions and reducing buyers’ and lenders’ uncertainty, potentially accelerating reuse of blighted or underused parcels.
What’s next: city staff will follow up with South Central to identify a point of contact and any Shelbyville properties whose owners want to be contacted about assessments. No formal council action was recorded at the study session.
