The city of Dunkirk will get a $300,000 grant from the federal government to assess its industrial brownfields.

Mayor Wilfred Rosas announced during Tuesday’s Common Council meeting that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) selected Dunkirk as one of five communities in Region 2 in New York for a communitywide “Brownfield Assessment Grant.”

The EPA will work closely with the city to negotiate the cooperative agreement prior to the grant award. The grant will provide funding for the city’s brownfield program to inventory, characterize, assess, conduct a range of planning activities, develop site-specific cleanup plans, and conduct community involvement related to brownfield sites.

The city of Dunkirk was successful this year after a number of submissions for this grant in prior years.

Rosas sought to thank the EPA, Dunkirk Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy, Deputy Development Director EJ Hayes, as well as C&S Companies, who has been working with the development department to begin the process of marketing identified brownfield sites for redevelopment from the city’s Brownfield Opportunity Area.

“The EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant will be a vital tool to assist with revitalization efforts that have been underway in the city of Dunkirk,” Rosas said. “Dunkirk has long suffered being a post-industrial city, with abandoned and vacant properties that have sat fallow with abundant potential for redevelopment. EPA funding that assists with the environmental assessments of brownfield properties will streamline the redevelopment process in Dunkirk, leading to new opportunities to attract developers and investment to deliver new housing, commercial, and industrial development projects.”