General Motors will give Wisconsin $210,000 to clean up its closed plants as part of a settlement Wednesday between GM and the U.S. Justice Department, as well as 14 other states and one tribal organization.
The total settlement requires the Detroit-based automaker to pay $773 million to clean up old property sites, two-thirds of which are known to be contaminated with hazardous waste, according to a White House statement.
Michigan, New York, Indiana and Ohio received the most money as part of the settlement. GM will pay Michigan the largest sum, more than $158 million.
There are a total of 89 buildings in 14 states and one tribal organization that were vacated by GM after their bankruptcy.
The White House praised the settlement as a way to hold GM responsible for the cleanup of their abandoned facilities and as a way to create jobs in those communities, according to a statement.
The money will go into a trust run by a former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The settlement will be the largest environmental trust in the U.S.
The trust will work with environmental agencies on both the federal and state levels to manage the clean up.
“This trust provides support for aggressive environmental cleanups at these sites, which will create jobs today and benefit the environment and human health over the long-term,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in a statement.
Jackson added that the agreement will help the communities that lost GM plants recover and move on.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler emphasized the positive environmental impact of the settlement.
“This settlement holds accountable those responsible for contaminating certain properties and ensures they help transform these communities by supporting the necessary cleanup,” Grindler said in a statement.
The settlement will give communities affected by GM’s plant closings adequate resources to plan and implement new uses for the facilities, according to the White House.
Since declaring bankruptcy last year, courts that are disbanding the old GM must approve the agreement. The settlement is expected to be finalized early next year.