The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Denver will receive a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant to advance cleanup and revitalization of properties along the Federal Boulevard Corridor.

Priority sites include a former college campus, a vacant commercial property and a former gas station.

Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment as well as Denver Economic Development and Opportunity will work with city officials in Sheridan and the Urban Land Conservancy to conduct 20 environmental site assessments and cleanup plans for priority sites along the Federal Boulevard Corridor.

“With this funding, the City and County of Denver can begin the work of cleaning up and redeveloping important yet currently vacant and unsafe sites along the heavily travelled Federal Boulevard,” EPA Regional Administrator KC Becker said in a release. “I applaud the City and County for focusing revitalization efforts on an overburdened and vulnerable neighborhood with historical environmental justice concerns.”

Denver is one of 265 communities across the country to receive Brownfields Cleanup, Assessment and Revolving Loan Fund Grants to advance environmental justice. The funding for the program includes about $180 million from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law.

“This grant is an important first step in the revitalization of a vital corridor of our city,” Bob McDonald, Denver’s public health director, said in a release. “We are pleased to join our partners at Denver Economic Development & Opportunity, the City of Sheridan, and the Urban Land Conservancy to better understand any environmental challenges to redevelopment, improve potential health risks to the community, and ultimately help encourage investment in local business and affordable housing throughout the Federal Boulevard corridor.”