The Grays Harbor Council of Governments has formed a coalition that includes the cities of Aberdeen, Cosmopolis and Hoquiam to go after a $600,000 EPA grant to promote the revitalization of underutilized properties across the county.

The agency’s executive director Vicki Cummings hosted an open house Tuesday to detail the coalition’s effort to secure the “brownfield assessment grant.” Chris Gdak of Stantec, the firm brought on to direct the project, gave a presentation on the effort and fielded questions from the community members in attendance.

The Council of Governments is funded by local governments in the area to support planning and development efforts that the smaller, individual governments couldn’t afford on their own. Stantec writes the grant and if it is awarded, they are paid a fee for consulting work done later.

“We lead a team of 20 that helps communities go after grants for community redevelopment,” said Gdak. This particular EPA grant money would be used to “take an inventory of possible sites, ultimately picking about a dozen” that would become part of a three- or four-year project.

Brownfield sites are properties — private and public — that were once sites for commercial or industrial facilities. These sites are often considered a risk for potential investors because of possible contamination of the properties. Locally, old mill sites, abandoned gas stations and even the commercial property in downtown areas could qualify for brownfield status. Brownfield sites are not just unattractive to investors and those who live around them. Fires, illegal dumping, drug use and other criminal activity on these properties require emergency service response, which stretches already overburdened emergency services and places the financial burden squarely on the city and in turn the taxpayer.

Stantec’s Andrea Pedersen is drafting the grant proposal and, while specific sites will not be selected until after the grant is awarded, the proposal does list some areas that would potentially benefit from brownfield assessment.

“The grant funds will primarily be used for sites located in the following focus areas: Fry Creek Restoration Area in West Aberdeen/East Hoquiam, Posey Plant Area in East Hoquiam, Downtown Aberdeen, and Downtown Cosmopolis,” she said. “Known and potential brownfield sites in these areas include former gas stations, former auto repair shops, former dry cleaners, former manufacturing plants, salvage yards, underutilized warehouses and commercial facilities and old buildings with lead-based paint or asbestos.”

Gdak says the success of the application, due Dec. 22, depends heavily on having a coalition in place like the one the Council of Governments has established and a strong level of community involvement, showing the EPA the money would be put to good use.

If the local coalition gets the grant — a decision isn’t likely until late May of next year — then work begins in earnest. Community leaders, developers, investors and area residents are brought together every four months or so to discuss which sites most deserve to benefit from a share of the grant money. Stantec uses other tools, from inspections to historical data sources and real estate listings, to select a proper site. Once the site is selected the grant money is used to perform environmental assessments to determine the level of contamination that may be present.

The idea is to make these properties attractive to investors by identifying potential environmental risks that may be present and formulating how to “balance cost effective cleanup alternatives with reuse plans,” said Gdak. He stressed how development within existing brownfield sites could save taxpayer and investor money over development of outlying areas. “There are environmental and economic benefits to using existing downtown structures over new development outside of town,” said Gdak. “New development costs taxpayers money for new roads, sewer lines and more, and spreads pollution outward” rather than containing it in a more manageable area.

With other projects in the development stages, some asked if there would be overlap among project areas. Cummings said she hopes any projects the coalition takes on could be “dovetailed” with any others.

If the grant is awarded it could also pave the way to other state and federal grants to continue current projects or undertake new ones, said Gdak.