Henry County Advances $500,000 EPA Brownfield Grant to Vendor Phase

A $500,000 federal brownfield grant has cleared its next administrative hurdle in Henry County, Indiana. On Oct. 28, the Henry County Commissioners voted unanimously to name Patriot Engineering as the vendor that will administer the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant, with the approval contingent on legal review.

The decision did not arrive in a vacuum. The commissioners had taken up the grant at their Sept. 9 meeting, where the county's brownfield coordinator laid out the sequence of steps that must precede any fieldwork. Mark Fuhrman, who oversees the county's brownfield redevelopment program, said the next step in implementing the grant is to hire a qualified environmental professional.

Fuhrman also asked that one commissioner serve on the scoring committee alongside him and Penny Mark to review responses to the request for qualifications. The commissioners approved the request, and Henry County Commissioners President Steve Kellerman agreed to sit on the scoring committee.

What does the grant actually fund?

The money flows from the EPA's Brownfields Program, through which Henry County received funds to evaluate, clean up and redevelop suspected properties while protecting public health and the environment. Henry County is one of roughly 240 entities nationwide — and one of 16 in Indiana — selected to receive the grant.

The award is not the county's first entry in the program. Two previous brownfield grants, in the amounts of $400,000 and $390,000, also supported local site rehabilitation efforts, according to the county's redevelopment office.

At the Oct. 28 meeting, Mark returned with information about the Request for Quote (RFQ) process and a recommendation. She requested that the commissioners approve Patriot Engineering as the vendor for the grant project, contingent on legal review. The motion passed without opposition, and the EPA grant moves on to the next phase.

What does this change for local property owners?

For commercial property owners in Henry County, the practical effect is a waiting period followed by an open application window. The county's brownfield program will advertise once it has permission to start accepting applications. Any commercial property owner who suspects an environmental issue on their site can reach out to the county to begin the application process. Contact details are available through the county's brownfield redevelopment office.

The structure of the award matters for how quickly sites can move. Because the county administers the grant through a qualified environmental professional rather than through direct EPA oversight of each parcel, the pace of assessment work will depend on Patriot Engineering's schedule once the legal review concludes and the contract is executed.

The milestones to watch

Three dates now govern the timeline. First, the completion of the legal review that conditions the commissioners' approval of Patriot Engineering. Second, the county's public advertisement announcing that applications are open. Third, the scoring committee's review of qualification responses, which Fuhrman, Mark and Kellerman will conduct together.

Until the advertisement runs, no applications can be accepted, and no site assessments can begin under the new award. The $500,000 remains committed but undeployed until the contract clears review.

Henry County's track record suggests the pipeline will not sit idle for long. The county has previously converted two EPA brownfield grants into local site rehabilitation work, and the current award extends that sequence into a third funding cycle.

The immediate milestone that decides what happens next is the legal review of the Patriot Engineering contract. Once that closes, the county can advertise, accept applications from commercial property owners, and put the federal dollars to work on suspected contaminated sites.