Ashland receives $500K EPA grant

Henry Culvyhouse, The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.
Updated ·1 min read

May 26—Ashland was among 10 Kentucky communities who received federal monies for "brownfield clean up projects."

The city received $500,000 of a $7.9 million grant awarded in Kentucky for assessment and clean up of former industrial and commercial sites with contaminated soils.

Mayor Matt Perkins said the city's $500,000 grant will allow the city to identify properties that need cleaning to make them more viable for the market.

"This isn't just an environmental grant," Perkins said. "It's an economic development grant. This will allow us to identify what needs to be done for these properties so we can get them closer towards development."

Other Eastern Kentucky communities received funding as well — the Big Sandy Area Development District received a $500,000 EPA assessment grant for Prestonsburg, while Frontier Housing in Morehead received nearly $2 million to remediate a former hospital in Maysville.

Perkins said the city's Community and Economic Development department started pursuing the grant on the advice of a consultant. The mayor thanked CED's Chris Pullem and Katherine Utsinger for getting it secured.

(606) 326-2653 — henry@dailyindependent.com