Transforming Brownfields into Community Assets in Southeast Indiana
In 2019, Atlas played a pivotal role in organizing a coalition of compromising multiple public agencies to successfully secure a $600,000 U.S. EPA Brownfield Assessment Grant. The coalition, led by the City of Lawrenceburg, includes the City of Aurora, the City of Greendale, and Dearborn County is represented by the Regional Economic Development Agency, One Dearborn. This collaborative effort marked a significant step toward revitalizing underutilized properties across the region.
Selected through a competitive process as the Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP), Atlas has spent the past four years leading the grant’s successful implementation—bringing strategic insight, technical excellence and community commitment to every stage of the project.
Grant Program Achievements:
- Programmatic Leadership: Coordination of quarterly updates and engagement meetings with coalition members and stakeholders.
- Community Outreach: Collaboration with redevelopment commissions, property owners, developers, and small businesses to promote project goals.
- Brownfield Inventory Development: Identifying sites with strong redevelopment potential.
- Environmental Assessments: Conducting Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments, hazardous materials inspections and cleanup planning.
- EPA Compliance: Ensuring site eligibility and preparing all required reports for the U.S. EPA.
- End-Use Planning: Integrating redevelopment and reuse planning and engineering design into the cleanup and closure of brownfields sites.
Measurable Impact:
- 16 sites assessed
- 6 properties repurposed with new end users
- 2 properties with fully executed redevelopment plans, zoning approvals, and are scheduled to begin redevelopment.
- 2 properties fully assessed and market ready.
Atlas supported Lawrenceburg in securing an EPA Cleanup Grant to expedite solar development on the remediated landfill site, advancing the region’s renewable energy footprint.
Beyond technical achievements, Atlas’s work has had a tangible impact on lives and livelihoods. In a heartfelt note of thanks, Erin and Steve Bowling—new end users of a once-abandoned brownfield site—shared their appreciation:
“You have been a blessing to us during this process, and we are very thankful.”
By aligning environmental expertise with community-driven goals, Atlas is proud to help unlock new futures for Indiana’s brownfields—one site at a time.