American Samoa has been selected by the United States environmental Protection Agency to receive a $300,000 grant to assess and clean up contaminated properties under the agency’s Brownfields Program.
Nationwide, more than 151 communities have been selected to receive grants totaling more than $65.6 million in EPA Brownfields funding.
These funds will help under-served and economically disadvantaged communities assess and clean up contaminated properties and return them to productive reuse.
“This Brownfields grant will provide American Samoa an opportunity to plan cleanup efforts in the Pago Pago Harbor area,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud.
“This can lead to redevelopment, attract jobs and promote economic revitalization, while taking advantage of existing infrastructure and protecting the community and the environment.”
The $300,000 Brownfields Assessment grant will support American Samoa’s assessment and cleanup planning for properties in the Pago Pago Harbor area.
ASEPA Director Faamao Asalele said, “We welcome the news of this Brownfields funding for the assessment of the Pago Pago Harbor area as a major milestone in our government’s journey to rehabilitate and redevelop the harbor area,”
“We thank the EPA for this grant award as an important step towards improving our redevelopment plans for this area of commerce, industry and residential use.”
This funding will help advance recovery from several devastating recent events, including 2018’s Tropical Cyclone Gita and other tropical storms that destroyed buildings and caused flooding throughout the island.
