The Province is helping revitalize communities throughout B.C. by investing $1.5 million in a program that helps clean up contaminated land and get it ready for redevelopment, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson announced today.

Under the brownfield renewal funding program, 19 projects in 13 B.C. communities are getting support to turn former industrial sites into usable property. The funding ranges from $2,125 to help Elkford turn a wastewater treatment facility into a recreational area, to $183,972 to transform an empty lot that once housed a dry cleaner in Victoria into a residential development.

Since its creation in 2008, the brownfield renewal program has provided close to $6 million for 101 projects in over 50 communities. The funding is available to private property owners, including local governments, First Nations, non-profit agencies and businesses. The program assists projects in their initial stages by funding site contamination studies and research to develop options for site restoration and redevelopment.

A brownfield is an abandoned or underused industrial or commercial property, often contaminated and with strong redevelopment potential. Renewing brownfield properties can increase commercial space, create employment, improve safety, enhance green space and reduce pressure on existing land.

Quote:

Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson -

"Brownfield redevelopment creates economic benefits for local governments, land developers and the community. By making unused land healthy and viable again, the Province is helping create sources of tax revenue while supporting community revitalization strategies across B.C."

Quick Fact:

• The Province estimates that there are between 4,000 and 6,000 brownfield sites - including urban, rural and waterfront locations - throughout British Columbia.

Learn More:

B.C. Brownfield Renewal Program: http://www.brownfieldrenewal.gov.bc.ca/

A backgrounder follows.

Contact:

Sharon Dean
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 356-6998

BACKGROUNDER

2013 Brownfield Renewal Funding Program recipients

Abbotsford

Clayburn Industries Ltd. is receiving up to $60,410 to help revitalize an underused parcel of land in downtown Abbotsford - former home of a clay brick manufacturing company - redeveloping it for commercial and residential use. The City of Abbotsford supports the project.

Chemainus

Private developer Peggy Lowe is receiving up to $25,210 to help revitalize a site - that once housed a service station - and build a residential housing complex.

Comox

SCG Forest Inc. is receiving up to $145,204 to help turn an unused lot - formerly the site of a sawmill - into a multi-use complex that includes residential development, a meeting and information centre, restaurants, commercial store space and gardens.

Cranbrook

Tembec Inc. is receiving up to $94,288 to help redevelop the site of a closed sawmill. The City of Cranbrook supports the project.

Elkford

The City of Elkford is receiving up to $2,125 to help turn a decommissioned waste water treatment facility into a community recreational area.

Fort St. John

The Treaty 8 Tribal Association is receiving up to $37,400 to help redevelop a former service station site, allowing the association to expand its offices and the range of services it provides to First Nation members and other local residents.

Highlands

Millstream Industrial Park is receiving up to $54,159 to help take an existing property, supporting a range of industrial services, and remediate the site to enhance its potential for commercial and industrial use.

Kelowna

The Kelowna Salvation Army will receive up to $24,825 to help turn a former service station site into a low-rental housing complex for families in recovery programs, as well as classrooms and a small thrift store.

Kimberley

The City of Kimberley is receiving up to $26,544 to help transform the site of a mining company garage into affordable housing and other residential parcels.

Nelson

Landing Development Corporation is receiving up to $75,091 to help turn a sawmill site on the banks of the West Arm of Kootenay Lake into public, residential and commercial space. Supported by the City of Nelson, plans call for a public beach and park, a waterfront walkway, enhanced social and cultural focus and housing.

Shawnigan Lake

Shawnigan Station Development Ltd. is receiving up to $169,372 to help remediate a vacant industrial site for commercial development. The project is supported by the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

Squamish

The Sea to Sky Forestry Society is receiving up to $22,741 to help turn a vacant lot, which formerly housed both a sawmill and truck repair station, into a educational and cultural facility that will promote natural history, forest management and industrial awareness.

Terrace

NSD Development Corporation is receiving up to $136,466 to help redevelop a former lumber company site, restoring it to support large economic development projects in the area. The project is supported by the City of Terrace.

Vancouver

Epix Developments Ltd. is receiving up to $26,085 to help redevelop an existing run-down warehouse in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. The company plans to build a low-cost housing complex on the site.

Victoria

Private developers Walter Lee and Mei Lee are receiving up to $183,972 to help clean up a site that used to house a dry cleaner. The developers are planning to build a three-storey commercial and residential building with garden space on the property.

Mountain West Properties Group is receiving up to $36,207 to help convert an empty lot on Harbour Road in Victoria into a commercial building complex.

The City of Victoria is receiving up to $25,741 to help incorporate a parking lot on Ship's Point into the city's ongoing harbour revitalization plans. The city also is receiving $161,550 to help remediate and redevelop property on Yates Street.

The Capital Regional District is receiving up to $177,500 to help convert the former site of the Thetis Lake Regional Park Pistol Range into parkland, to create more space for public recreation and habitat conservation.

Contact:

Sharon Dean
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
250 356-6998