$800 million to be earmarked for cleanup of former General Motors sites.
The Obama administration has proposed a trust fund of more than $800 million to pay for the cleanup of closed General Motors sites in 14 states.
Ed Montgomery, who leads the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, said the fund would clean up nearly 90 properties shuttered in the GM bankruptcy. He said it represented the largest environmental and economic development effort for former manufacturing sites.
The cleanup plan will help raze or rehabilitate dozens of vacant manufacturing facilities and offices left barren by GM’s government-led bankruptcy last year. Montgomery announced the cleanup at a conference sponsored by the White House and the Brookings Institution, on the future of automotive communities affected by the industry’s downsizing.
Montgomery said the proposal would provide $536 million for the cleanup of properties, and about $300 million to help states and communities pay for property taxes, demolition costs, plant security and other expenses.
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