“We are honored to present funds for Brownfields Assessment Grants to Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the city of Topeka, highlighting their commitment to transforming communities across the Heartland,” said Jim Macy, EPA Region 7 Administrator.
The City of Topeka received $500,000 in Community-Wide Grant funds. These dollars will be used to complete eight Phase I and three Phase II environmental site assessments, maintain an inventory of brownfield properties, and support reuse planning. Priority sites include:
Mayor Mike Padilla emphasized the city’s collaborative approach: “It is great to be able to work with different organizations to reinvest in Topeka to create clean new areas for growth.”
KDHE received $2 million in Community-Wide Assessment funds. These will support 116 Phase I and Phase II site assessments statewide, preparation of at least three cleanup plans, and annual community meetings to provide progress updates.
Priority focus areas include:
“These Community-Wide Grant funds from EPA put Kansas communities in the position to leverage additional funds that will aid in redevelopment, revitalization, and cleanup plans across the state,” said KDHE Secretary Janet Stanek.
The EPA Brownfields Program has provided more than $2 billion in funding nationwide since 1995, supporting cleanup or assessment of more than 35,000 sites and leveraging over $35 billion in redevelopment investment. In Kansas, these grants have supported renewal of industrial, retail, and institutional sites, bringing them back into productive community use.
By targeting properties such as malls, schools, and land bank parcels, the Topeka and KDHE grants align with a broader trend of linking brownfield redevelopment to housing, infrastructure, and resilience planning across the Midwest.
