Bear Paw, Fort Belknap awarded for brownfields programs

Staff and wire report

The local economic development agency and Fort Belknap Indian Community have received more than $2.5 million to add to their programs used to assess and clean up contaminated property.

Fort Belknap Indian Community was awarded $500,000 in a cleanup grant, and Bear Paw Development Corp. was awarded $2.15 million from the Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund Coalition, part of nearly $10 million going to four Montana organizations.

“With this funding, four impactful organizations will advance the progress they’ve already made cleaning up and redeveloping polluted sites across the state of Montana,” said EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker. “I applaud (the recipients) for building upon their momentum and investing in projects so their communities can thrive.” 

  “When industries change and communities develop, Montana’s towns and cities are often left to foot the bill on cleanup efforts,” said Sen. Jon Tester. “My bipartisan infrastructure law will help to change that by reinvesting in the communities that have been most affected by leftover contamination and pollution. By working across the aisle with five Republicans and four other Democrats, we were able to secure critical funding to repurpose old or abandoned properties in the Treasure State and create good paying Montana jobs in the process.”

A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Redevelopment made possible through the program includes everything from grocery stores and affordable housing to health centers, museums, greenways, and solar farms.

Bear Paw Development plans to use supplemental funding under the Brownfields RLF program to continue to provide cleanup loans and grants throughout the five counties in its economic development district, which represents a large rural area of northern Montana.

Upcoming projects include the Bullhook Community Health Center in Havre, where Brownfields RLF funds will assist in cleaning up several properties so that the facility can expand the reach of vital health care services, especially to low- and moderate-income families and vulnerable communities. 

In Chinook, Bear Paw plans to clean up petroleum contamination so that the building owner can open a restaurant and coffee shop.

Bear Paw Development’s Brownfields RLF program also plans on assisting a former car dealership and fueling station in Chester to clean up petroleum contamination so that the site can be utilized by a local agricultural grain merchandiser and contribute to the commercial landscape in the rural community.

Over the past 11 years, the EPA has provided Bear Paw Development $1.5 million in funding leading to the completion of four loans and eight subgrants for cleanup projects.

A few highlights include the Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line in Havre, Malta Opportunities in Malta, Kaste’s Building in Big Sandy, and the Chester Vets Club in Chester, the location of Lodestar Realty, the location of Northern Auto Repair, Havre Eagles Manor, and assisting in the asbestos and lead-based paint abatement of the former buildings where Bullhook Community Health Center is located so the community health center could safely demolish the and build the new health center.

Bear Paw will be working with them on a future revolving loan fund project so they can abate properties surrounding them of asbestos and lead-based paint and expand their services and parking capacities.

  “We are elated that the EPA is again investing in Bear Paw Development’s brownfields program. These funds will be used throughout our five-county Economic Development District to clean up contaminated properties and put them back into productive use,” Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss said. “This investment will revitalize neighborhoods and communities that otherwise would continue to be impacted by the negative effects of environmental contamination.” 

Tuss is a Democratic candidate for the Legislature and will face incumbent Rep. Ed Hill, R-Havre, in the general election.

The other groups receiving the nearly $10 million are Snowy Mountain Development Corporation in Lewistown, $3.9 million; Great Falls Development Authority in Great Falls; will receive $2.65 million, and Headwaters Resource Conservation and Development Council in Butte, $1 million. 

Fort Belknap Indian Community will use its $500,000 to clean up a former school in Lodge Pole, a former water treatment plant, the former Sacred Heart Catholic Church and the Old Agency Dump on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

The former Lodge Pole School is a vacant 16,225-square-foot building contaminated with metals and inorganic contaminants. The former water treatment plant was closed in 2010 and is a vacant 3,750-square-foot building. There are vault tanks and drums inside and near the building, containing known and unknown chemicals.

The Sacred Heart Catholic Church is a 3,322-square-foot building contaminated with inorganic contaminants.

The Old Agency Dump is a 24-acre site that became an unofficial dump for debris such as concrete, pipes, and cars after its closure in the 1980s; its soil is contaminated with organic contaminants.

Grant funds also will be used to conduct community involvement activities.