Since 1993, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has been focusing on the clean-up and redevelopment of properties through their Brownfields and Redevelopment Unit. Through financial awards to public entities, DEED has been helping rejuvenate properties across Minnesota.
"Minnesota was one of the first states to have laws revolving around brownfields clean up," says Kristin Lukes, Director of DEED's Brownfields and Redevelopment Unit. Twice a year, $14 million are distributed throughout the state to projects that aim to remediate contamination levels, encourage job growth, and lead forgotten properties toward economic and environmental prosperity.
One of the areas benefiting from these financial awards is Hermantown. Just over fifty thousand dollars has been awarded to the city to clean up an old farmstead with lead contamination. "The full project was slated to create a couple of jobs and increase the tax base for the community by almost a hundred thousand dollars," says Lukes.
To learn more about DEED and the Brownfields and Redevelopment Unit, visit the Department of Economic and Employment and Economic Development website.
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