The city of Chickamauga has been awarded around $5.5 million in state and federal grants to clean up the abandoned Crystal Springs Print Works factory.
The majority of the funds, $4 million, comes from a brownfields cleanup grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The agency June 24 announced $14 million in cleanup grants to Georgia communities.
“This major investment will fund the cleanup of this 17-acre former textile mill property, which has been vacant since the buildings were demolished years ago,” a statement posted to Chickamauga’s city Facebook page said. “Grant funds will help remediate contaminants, progressing the site into a valuable asset for economic development, job creation, and community revitalization.”
The EPA’s brownfields program helps communities revitalize brownfield sites, which are abandoned properties that have not been cleared because of the potential presence of hazardous material or pollutants, according to the EPA.