Nola Reporter

NEW ORLEANS — Mayor LaToya Cantrell today was joined by City Planning Commission (CPC) Executive Director Robert Rivers, CPC Brownfields Director Kari Godchaux, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 Brownfields Section Chief Althea Foster, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Roger Gingles and Limitless Vistas Executive Director Sherry Callaway to announce and present an award of $2 million from EPA to support the environmental remediation of the former Naval Support Activity Complex (NSA) located in the Bywater neighborhood. The award was from the EPA’s Brownfields Cleanup Grant program, funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.  

“As the City of New Orleans remains on the frontlines of the ongoing global climate crisis, a top priority has been bolstering our more vulnerable, marginalized populations that have been disproportionally impacted by environmental injustices for generations,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “We are honored to be selected as a recipient of EPA's Brownfields Cleanup Grant Program, which is a critical next step towards the renovation of this immense and derelict property. Once complete, this site will provide a resilient and sustainable source of power, as well as much needed affordable housing, commerce and job creation. My administration will continue to demonstrate our commitment to resolving our decades-long environmental issues and identifying sustainable solutions that are a win-win for our city and our residents and also in direct alignment with our federal infrastructure and climate action goals.”

The Brownfields Cleanup Grant program provides funding to carry out cleanup activities at brownfield sites to allow for future development. Funds are used to address sites contaminated by petroleum, hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants, including hazardous substances co-mingled with petroleum.

The former NSA complex was completed in 1919 by the United States Navy and was used as a logistic station to protect the Port of New Orleans from attack, a shelter and training center for the unemployed and homeless during the Great Depression and later as a recruiting and training station for multiple military branches. It was deactivated and sold to the City of New Orleans in 2011 to facilitate its redevelopment. The complex is currently vacant and primarily consists of three 84,000 square-foot, 6-story buildings within an approximately 1.5 million square-foot site. All three buildings are listed under criteria A on the National Register of Historic Places due to its military history. 

"The City Planning Commission is thrilled to have played a role in securing this funding for such a critical redevelopment project," said Rivers. "Since 2018, the CPC – led by its full-time Brownfields Director, Kari Godchaux – has been working with the Administration, as well as our regional, state and federal partners, to build a robust Brownfields Program for the City. This grant award is evidence of that work and demonstrates the value of the City’s continuing support of this important program."

“The City of New Orleans and the Limitless Vistas job training program have proved, again and again, the transformative power that EPA Brownfields grants can have for communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Dr. Earthea Nance. “With historic amounts of funding available from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these outstanding partners will continue to create benefits for local families and neighborhoods.”

EPA has also selected local nonprofit organization, Limitless Vistas, for a Brownfields Job Training grant. Limitless Vistas plans to train 200 students and place at least 120 in environmental jobs. Students who complete the training will earn up to three federal certifications. Limitless Vistas is targeting students from New Orleans, specifically dislocated, unemployed, underemployed and low-income individuals, minorities, opportunity youth, citizens with justice-system involvement and veterans. Key partners include the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission, the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, Louisiana DEQ and the Urban League of Louisiana.

"The Brownfields program is our primary tool to get longstanding impaired properties remediated and rehabilitated," said Secretary Gingles. "It lets us give new purposes to neglected assets."

The City’s application for the Brownfields Cleanup Grant Program was submitted by the CPC’s Brownfields Program, in coordination with Mayor Cantrell’s IIJA Task Force. The City created the multi-departmental IIJA Task Force in January 2022 to analyze infrastructure needs within the City and secure funding from the new infrastructure law. 

More information on the EPA Brownfields programs and awards can be found here: Multipurpose, Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Application Resources | US EPA.

Original source can be found here.