"Brownfields restoration is a win-win for everyone, from the children who have new places to play when a brownfield is turned into a ballfield, to the parents who have new jobs when a brownfield becomes the site of a new office building or a retail store," she adds.

The grants are awarded under EPA's Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund program to capitalize state and local programs that in turn provide no-interest or low-interest loans to businesses to carry out cleanup activities at brownfields properties. Local governments awarded grants, in addition to Oakland County, include Monroe, MI and Taylor, MI.

For every dollar of federal money spent on brownfields cleanup activities, cities and states produce or leverage $2.48 in private investment, the agency claims. To date, EPA's brownfields program has leveraged more than $4 billion in public and private investments that have turned abandoned industrial properties into thriving economic centers, useful recreational areas and beneficial open spaces, Whitman says.

Earlier this year, President George W. Bush signed bipartisan legislation that will encourage the cleanup and redevelopment of old industrial properties.