Obama-Era Brownfield Cleanups Still Unfinished, Watchdog Says

Nearly a quarter of the brownfield sites funded under an Obama-era stimulus package still haven’t been cleaned up or returned to use, the EPA’s internal watchdog said in a Wednesday report.

The findings suggest the Environmental Protection Agency must do a better job of ensuring grant recipients can follow through on their plans, according to the agency’s Office of the Inspector General. The internal review studied 38 sites marked for cleanup under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, of which five haven’t been fully cleaned up and four haven’t been reused.

The EPA estimates there are more than ...