City Honored by EPA for Sustainable C-Street

Monday, May 19 2008 (09:36AM) | Posted by Rusty Worley | Commercial Street

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 office presented the City of Springfield’s Brownfields program with an award for “The Sustainable Redevelopment of Communities” at the National Brownfields Conference this month.

The award, accepted by Brownfields Coordinator Olivia Hough at the conference on May 5 in Detroit, recognized Springfield for its efforts to foster sustainability, particularly on efforts to redevelop Commercial Street into a sustainable, mixed-use destination.

This is the latest in a series of recognitions the City has received from the EPA for the City’s Brownfields program to conduct environmental assessments and remediation in order to re-use these types of properties.

As a result of the City’s sustainability goals for Commercial Street, the Commercial Club of Springfield passed a resolution to become a “green community” in November 2007. The Commercial Club members are working to embrace environmentally friendly practices throughout its district and within specific developments and businesses.

Since 1999, the City has received eight EPA Brownfields grants totaling $2,070,000. Other City staff members who work with the program include: Vern Morgan, Grants Administrator; Bill Weaver, Development Economist; and Doug Durrington, Environmental Engineer.

More information about the City’s Brownfields program is available on the City’s Web site here.

For more information, contact: Olivia Hough, Brownfields Coordinator, 417-864-1092.