The city of Salisbury has been selected by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to receive nearly $1.8 million in competitive Brownfields Cleanup Grant funding.

The EPA grant will fund cleanup efforts at the former SALKAP Lake Street Oil Tank Farm on Lake Street.

The parcels were used as a fuel tank farm with above-ground storage tanks and a waste oil processing facility, until they became inactive in 1992.

The cleanup process will remediate contaminants in soil and groundwater, making the site safe to serve as a long-term community asset.

Salisbury is one of 262 communities across the country to receive Cleanup Grant funding, and the only community in Maryland to receive cleanup funding this fiscal year. 

Brownfields are properties where reuse or redevelopment is complicated by the presence of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants.

Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties aids job growth, re-purposes existing infrastructure, and improves and protects the environment.

“Every neighborhood deserves this level of care and attention when it comes to the environment they live, work, and play in every day,” said Mayor Jack Heath. “Almost half of the residents in the Lake Street Neighborhood are children. With the help of this grant, these young people will grow up to see this eye sore and environmental blight cleaned from their streets.”

The former SALKAP property was identified in the 2016 “Envision Salisbury” 20-year plan for transformation as an ideal location for an urban green space. The plan, which was crafted with input from the community, cites the location’s potential utility in mitigating flooding issues, as well as its importance as an urban green space that will connect the city’s underserved West Side with its Downtown business district.