EPA awards Indiana $2.3M in grants for industrial cleanups

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Six Indiana communities have landed a combined $2.3 million in federal funding to either clean up former industrial areas or redevelop those sites.

The largest of the Indiana grants announced Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is $600,000 the Michigan City Sanitary District will use to assess industrial properties in the northwestern Indiana city.

Indianapolis, Jeffersonville and Richmond are each getting $300,000 to either assess and clean up contamination or redevelop cleaned-up sites.

The town of Clarksville will get $440,000 to prepare properties along the Ohio River for redevelopment, and a regional planning commission is getting $400,000 to assess brownfields in six towns in southern Indiana's Crawford, Dubois, and Orange counties.

The EPA says the funding will advance cleanup projects, boost local economies and protect the public health.