Environmental Matters in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

U.S. EPA selected Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government to receive a $200,000 Brownfields assessment grant. The money will be used in the west Louisville’s Park Hill Industrial Corridor. This area has experienced a decline in population and significant job losses as a result of economic restructuring and plant closures. The unemployment rate in the target area is 16 percent. More than 80 percent of residents are African-American, and 47.6 percent live below the poverty level. The corridor is marred with abandoned, vacant, or underused industrial Brownfields. The threat of contamination, whether perceived or real, stifles redevelopment in the area. Brownfields assessment is expected to promote site cleanup, facilitate redevelopment, and attract private investment in the Park Hill Industrial Corridor and West Louisville.