A federal grant has been awarded for an environmental assessment of areas of downtown Hazard.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Kentucky River Area Development District has been awarded a Brownfields Assessment Grant for the purpose of performing environmental impact assessments in areas of Hazard. The Associated Press is reporting the grant is worth $300,000.

According to the EPA, the Brownfields Assessment Grant awarded to KRADD will be used to conduct 15 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site assessments in Hazard. The funds will also be used to develop five cleanup plans and support community involvement activities.

According to the EPA, the assessments will focus on the Downtown Historic Business District in Hazard, which is located in a Qualified Opportunity Zone. The business district includes more than 20 properties identified as abandoned or underutilized “that create blight.” Those properties include a former department store, a vacant three-story former bank building, and an abandoned station with four fuel tanks that need to be removed, the EPA says.

In addition to Hazard, Brownfields Assessment Grants were also awarded to Frankfort, Louisville and Florence, and other grants were awarded to Middlesboro and Pineville.

According to the EPA, the Brownfields Program empowers states, communities, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

Kentucky is a part of EPA’s Region 4.

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