$200,000 EPA grant for Bridesburg, Frankford brownfield cleanup plan

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded Philadelphia a $200,000 grant to plan for the strategic remediation and reuse of brownfields along the lower Frankford Creek.

The grant will allow the Philadelphia City Planning Commission to research levels of environmental contamination in a 4-square mile area in parts of Bridesburg, Frankford, Port Richmond, and Juniata Park. The study area includes large legacy industrial sites such as Philadelphia Coke, Rohm and Haas, and Edgewater Dyeing.

According to the EPA’s grant website, city agencies will work with community stakeholders and partners like the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Drexel Univeristy to “develop an area-wide plan and implementation strategy to help guide the reactivation of several parcels of brownfield land adjacent to the Frankford Creek and Delaware River in the Bridesburg and Frankford neighborhoods. The city will conduct brownfields research, analysis, community visioning and planning through this project, and will work with the community to balance social equity, environmental protection, and economic vitality objectives.”

In addition to developing a remediation plan which will stimulate redevelopment interest, the grant will also lead to the development of the Frankford Creek Greenway that would link Tacony Creek Park to the Delaware River, noted a city press release.

The EPA’s Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Program offers grants to help address multiple adjacent brownfields that can be impediments to redevelopment and diminish public and environmental health.