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After suspending a $19.5 million grant, the Environmental Protection Agency has officially terminated funding for disaster preparedness in Lane County, officials say.
Due to incorrect information provided by Lane County, an earlier version of this story named the wrong facility slated to become a shelter in West Eugene. Clear Lake Elementary is the school that was set to become a shelter.
The Environmental Protection Agency has notified Lane County that it has terminated a $19.5 million grant that would have been invested locally in six extreme weather shelters.
Lane County and United Way were partnering on “community resilience hubs” meant to give people a safe place to go during disasters, including wildfires and heat waves.
Uncertainty had surrounded the funding for weeks. Nearly a month ago, April 8, the agency told the county it suspended the grant. Lane County leaders requested two rounds of review for suspensions. At that time, a spokesman for the county’s Health and Human Services Department, Jason Davis, told Lookout Eugene-Springfield the hubs were a matter of emergency preparedness, not progressive environmental policy.
“This is not a Green New Deal or related to curbing environmental impacts of climate change,” Davis said. “This [funding] is something we actually really needed. We’re facing wildfires like we never did before.”
The county received a formal notice of termination May 2.
Lane County is now considering disputing the grant termination. The grant was under contract, with the program officially kicking off March 1, before priorities for climate-related projects shifted under the Trump administration.
So far, Lane County has been reimbursed for nearly $105,000 under the grant.
The grant was a collaborative effort with facilities stretching from urban to rural communities set to become hubs. The list includes: Florence Senior & Activity Center; Fern Ridge Service Center in Veneta; Clear Lake Elementary School in Eugene; Bob Keefer Center in Springfield; Willamette Activity Center in Oakridge; and the community center and library in Cottage Grove.
“The cancellation of this grant puts lives at risk,” said Oakridge Mayor Bryan Cutchen in a press release. “We will continue to advocate fiercely for the resources our city needs and explore every possible avenue to complete this vital project.”
