United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-011
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Oktibbeha County, MS
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models; job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA selected Oktibbeha County for a Brownfields
Pilot. OktibbehaCounty(population38,522)ispartof
the Golden Triangle Region, a 3,543-square-mile,
seven-county area in northeast Mississippi that was
created in 1971 by the governor's executive order.
The Golden Triangle (total population 172,416), and
Oktibbeha County in particular, have been targeted
by the state for redevelopment. The unemployment
and poverty rates for these areas are 6.5 percent and
24.7 percent, respectively, and the area participates in
the Appalachian Regional Commission's Distressed
Communities Program. Most of the communities in
the area are small12 of the area's 20 incorporated
municipalities have populations of fewer than 1,000
residents.
As part of a region-wide sustainable development
initiative, the Oktibbeha County Economic
Development Authority purchased approximately 220
acres of property from Mississippi State University
for development of the Mississippi Research and
Technology Park. During the third phase of the
project, it was discovered that a 10-acre portion of the
land needed to complete the project was formerly
used as a landfill. This third phase calls for creation
of a technology-based business incubator and a state-
of-the-art science and technology "exploratorium."
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
Date of Award:
September 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets a
10-acre former landfill for
assessment, cleanup, and
redevelopment into the
Center for Environmental,
Biological, and Social
Information Technology
Enterprises.
Contacts:
Oktibbeha County Economic
Development Authority
(601)324-7776
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404)562-8661
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/bf.htm
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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The suspected presence of contaminants such as
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hazardous
laboratory waste has prevented completion of the
project.
OBJECTIVES
The county's primary objective is to assess, cleanup,
and redevelop the target area into the Center for
Environmental, Biological, and Social Information
Technology Enterprises (CEBSITE). When
completed, CEB SITE will comprise a 5 0,000-square-
foot technology-based business incubator, a youth-
focused science and technology exploratorium, and
regional recreational and day care facilities. The Pilot
will assist in achieving this objective by conducting
site assessments and facilitating interaction among
stakeholders affected by redevelopment of the former
landfill.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
Conducted an assessment on the target site, and will
collect and analyze a final set of groundwater
samples in 2001;
Created a j oint university/public school task force to
develop a full set of baseline measures and a youth-
action community map of environmental resources
in the Pilot area (The task force will include the
participation of university and local high school
students);
Developed a community awareness program and
convenedapublic forum on the Pilotproject involving
a broad base of community participants, and also
co-hosted a "Keep America Beautiful" seminar
and hosted a breakfast meeting of local community
elected officials to discuss the Pilot project;
Completed a web site that includes site assessment
data, EPA reports, press releases, and information
on getting involved with the project; and
Conducted Internet outreach sessions for the
community in September 2000.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
June 2001 EPA500-F-01-011
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