News Release: City of Hastings awarded MDEQ Grant

For Immediate Release:
April 9, 2019                                                                         

Contact:
Ms. Andrea Ryswick, MDEQ Brownfield Coordinator, RysickA@michigan.gov, (616) 401-0827
DEQ Media Office, deq-assist@michigan.gov, 517-284-9278

City of Hastings awarded MDEQ Grant  

LANSING, MICH. A former furniture and auto parts manufacturing site located south of East Mill Street along the Thornapple River in the city of Hastings, Barry County, will be evaluated for environmental contamination with the help of a $63,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Limited environmental assessments of the property have determined that historical uses of the property have contaminated the soil and groundwater with hazardous substances, but the extent of the contamination is unknown. The grant will help the city of Hastings better understand the environmental condition of the site. Once the environmental condition is known, the city of Hastings and their partners, the current owner, a local philanthropist, and the Barry County Economic Development Alliance, hope to find a developer to revitalize and safely reuse the site.

Several developers are interested in purchasing the property, but will not proceed until the environmental condition is evaluated. The city of Hastings envisions that the site will be developed for mixed-use, with components of residential, commercial, and retail. Evaluation of the environmental conditions, funded with the brownfield grant, will help estimate cleanup needs and costs and will help shape future developments for the site.

The MDEQ partners with communities to protect public health and the environment and revitalize contaminated property. MDEQ grants and loans pay for environmental investigation and cleanup on brownfields. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination.

Partnerships between MDEQ and communities have created over $4.7 billion in private investment and 24,000 new jobs over the life of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program. Each grant and loan dollar invested by the MDEQ in 2018 to protect residents and the environment is expected to return an average of $42 to the state’s economy. When brownfields are redeveloped, property values increase both on the revitalized site and on other nearby properties. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields.