{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-applauds-brownfields-assistance-secured-grants-pass", "Greg Walden applauds Brownfields assistance secured by Grants Pass", "2017-07-20", "2017", "2017-07", "Republican", "House", "OR", "Greg Walden", "W000791", "walden.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Greg Walden applauds Brownfields assistance secured by Grants Pass \nClick here or on the image above to view Walden\u2019s remarks\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013\u00a0Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today applauded \u201cBrownfields\u201d assistance secured by Grants Pass. Walden said Grants Pass acquiring these funds will allow the city to utilize the Brownfields Program, which has had success in communities across Walden\u2019s district, to clean up and redevelop the old Spalding Mill site.\u00a0\n\u201cThe success of Grants Pass getting this grant to clean up the old Spalding Mill site is terrific,\u201d said Walden. \u201cWe have a great record in Oregon using the Brownfields Program to cleanup these sites and put them back into active, productive use. At the Energy and Commerce Committee -- which I chair -- we\u2019ve moved forward legislation to reauthorize this federal program. It is the first time since 2006 that this program has been reviewed and reauthorized. We prove it on the ground in places like Grants Pass and it plays well across the country to clean up these sites and put them back into productive use. I\u2019m pleased with the announcement by the Trump Administration that they\u2019re making these funds available to Grants Pass.\u201d\nThis announcement comes as Walden has been working on bipartisan legislation at the House Energy and Commerce Committee to reauthorize the Brownfields Program. In June, Walden\u2019s Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously passed the Brownfields Enhancement, Economic Development, and Reauthorization Act. This bipartisan legislation authorizes the Brownfields Program for the first time since 2006 and makes it easier for smaller communities -- like Grants Pass and others in Walden\u2019s district -- to participate in the process of Brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. This legislation now awaits a vote in the full House of Representatives.\nGrants Pass secured $200,000 in \u201cBrownfields\u201d grant funds from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\u00a0to help the city develop a plan for the cleanup, restoration, and future development of the area around the old Spalding Mill site in eastern Grants Pass. A Brownfield is a property where the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant may complicate its expansion, redevelopment, or reuse.\nEPA Administrator Scott Pruitt says his agency is committed to working alongside Grants Pass as they work to redevelop this site. \u201cEPA is committed to working with communities like Grants Pass to redevelop Brownfields sites that have can contribute to local growth in both the economy and quality of life,\u201d said Pruitt. \u201cEPA\u2019s area-wide planning grants leverage considerable infrastructure and other investments, improving local economies and creating an environment where jobs can grow.\u201d\nBackground on the Spalding Mill site\nGrants Pass has long eyed the Spalding Mill area for redevelopment, and the 61-acre site was chosen by the EPA due to environmental concerns, proximity to transportation corridors and sensitive populations, history of disinvestment, reuse potential, and community need for economic development.\nThe mostly vacant former Spalding & Son sawmill site contains relics of former lumber operations such as drying kilns, lumber sheds, dust collection blowers, foundations, and an abandoned plywood factory.\u00a0\nWhile the Spalding Mill site was historically used for industrial purposes, it is surrounded by natural features: Jones Creek, essential habitat for the endangered Coho salmon, flows through the site, and the Rogue River, one of the west's premier recreational assets, lies less than a quarter-mile south. At the far edge of the Grants Pass urban area, directly abuts verdant pastures, treed mountainsides, and a 100- acre park long popular with the community. Finally, the Rogue River Greenway, a 30-mile emerald necklace of parks and public access areas along the Rogue River linked by a ribbon of greenway trail between Grants Pass and Central Point, abruptly terminates at the eastern edge of the project area.\nThe city\u2019s key partners on this project include:\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc., a community-based organization;\u00a0\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Business Oregon, through both its Brownfields and economic development divisions;\u00a0\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oregon Department of Environmental Quality;\u00a0\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Grants Pass Urban Renewal Agency;\u00a0\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Josephine County Solid Waste Agency; and Oregon Health Authority\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/greg-walden-applauds-brownfields-assistance-secured-grants-pass"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5230020508170128, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}