The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality announced a $1 million grant for the city of Grand Rapids to address Brownfield conditions at the former Grand Rapids Press site.
The grant, announced Monday, March 30, will pay for disposal of contaminated soil as well as building demolition for Michigan State University, which plans to build an $85 million biomedical research center on the site.
The site, at the northwest corner of Monroe Avenue and Michigan Street NW, formerly housed The Grand Rapids Press. MSU purchased the property for $12 million in 2013.
The 49-year-old Press building is being demolished to make room for the new research facility and two other development sites.
The Grand Rapids Research Center will transfer 80 existing research staff from the Van Andel Research Institute and create 180 new research jobs, according to Michigan State officials.
The DEQ’s Brownfield Redevelopment Program provides funding to local governments for environmental response activities at Brownfield properties where redevelopment is proposed.
Brownfield properties are considered vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination, according to the DEQ.
According to a 2012 environmental site assessment, the 4.3 acre site includes concentrations of Arsenic, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Mercury, Selenium, Silver, Zinc, Benzo(a)pyrene, Benzo(a,h)anthracene, Fluoranthene, Fluorene, Naphthalene and Phenanthrene
Source: Mlive.com
