Leelanau County still has about $140,000 in Brownfield Assessment Grant funds available to land developers through next year, according to county Planning Director Gail Myer. Myer said that new landowners should contact her office for information on this program, as it could help with everything from reviewing and assessing land to preparing a Brownfield plan.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, a brownfi eld is land that is “complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.” Therese Searles, a Brownfield specialist with the Traverse City-based consultant Fishbeck, said the EPA awards grants to remediate the damage and incentivize new development.
Leelanau County was awarded $250,000 through an EPA Brownfield assessment grant back in 2022, and the grant funds are being administered by the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. The grant term expires Sept. 30, 2025, and as of this reporting period, $142,971.63 remains unspent.
