Shoshone Tribe EPA Brownfields Project

[Luke Jones <jonesml@erols.com>]

TO STATE, CITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDITORS:

"EPA Selects Ely Shoshone Tribe as Brownfields Project"

  SAN FRANCISCO, July 15 -- Vice President Al Gore
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today
announced that the Ely Shoshone Tribe in Nevada has been
selected as a pilot project for redevelopment of former
industrial and commercial sites known as brownfields. The tribe
is one of 71 cities, states, towns, counties and tribes
nationwide that were selected today as brownfields pilot
projects.

  Brownfields are abandoned or under-used industrial or
commercial areas where redevelopment is complicated by real or
perceived environmental contamination. Property owners,
lenders, investors and developers fear that involvement with
these sites will make them liable for contamination they did
not create.

  "There is no greater example of the environment and the
economy working hand in hand to benefit the American people
than the Administration's efforts to clean up and revitalize
Brownfields," said Vice President Al Gore. "Across the nation,
cities are coming back to life with new jobs, new opportunities,
and new hope."

  "Cleaning up and reusing these sites can be a key element to a
community's economic vitality," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA's
regional administrator. "This underused area of the Ely
Shoshone Nation has the tremendous potential of becoming an
integral part of the community."

  The tribe will receive a $200,000 grant over a two-year
period. The tribe will assess the extent and type of
contamination at the Old Ely landfill. Following cleanup, the
tribe will work with three Nevada counties to establish a
multi-county recycling facility.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   M. Luke Jones  (jonesml@erols.com)
   Environmental Program Manager
   Native American Consultants, Inc. (NACI)
   725 6th St., NE  -  Washington, DC  20002
   (202) 547-0576 [ph]  -  (202) 547-0589 [fx]
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