York County received $600,000 in brownfield grants on Monday from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Statewide, the EPA awarded $2 million in brownfield assessment grants. A brownfield site contains a hazardous substance, pollutant or contaminant that hinders potential reuse or redevelopment.

The Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission was granted $400,000 in grants, bringing that agency’s total brownfield funding from the EPA over the last several years to $2 million, according to Executive Director Paul Schumacher.

“We’ve really been trying to focus on the downtowns and work on the revitalization of those areas,” Schumacher said. “With the next round of funding, we’re interested in working in some of the smaller downtowns and village centers on things like old service stations and junkyards.”

The commission works with 39 member municipalities to coordinate economic development and resource management.

Last year, the commission was awarded a $1 million revolving loan fund, one of just 14 awarded nationwide, for brownfield assessment. Schumacher said they are in the process of considering the applications for loans and expect to announce the loans in about a month.

The town of Sanford received a $200,000 grant to be used to assess contamination in the sprawling downtown mill complex and to evaluate Number One Pond, which is believed to contain sawdust and possibly other contaminants from the mills that operated upstream.

Other Maine grantees include the South Brewer Redevelopment LLC, the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, the Hancock County Planing Commission, the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments, and the municipalities of Lewiston, Oakland and Pittsfield.