United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-034
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Dayton, OH
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 the City of Dayton for a Brownfields
Pilot. Dayton (population 182,005) was a prosperous
factory town until the late 1960s, when jobs and
workers began moving to the suburbs—a demographic
shift that has occurred in many U.S. cities. Between
1970and 1990, thecitylostmorethan45,000jobs and
60,000 residents. Today, abandoned factories are a
common sight. The average income in the city is 74
percent of the national average, and the minority
population is 42 percent. Several poor neighborhoods
in the city have been designated as federal Enterprise
Communities.
Dayton has identified 10 area brownfields, covering
more than 135 acres of land, as priority sites for
cleanup and redevelopment. These 10 downtown
sites are located in economically disadvantaged and
minority neighborhoods. Dayton's comprehensive
city development plan identifiedthe tooling andmachine
industries as potential suppliers of more than 5,600
new jobs. To meet this demand, the city created a
concept known as "Tool Town" that concentrates
tooling and machining companies, support services,
and training opportunities onredevelopedbrownfields
sites. Dayton will initially target a 35-acre former
automobile factory as the first stage of Tool Town's
development. The abandoned factory is in a prime
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Dayton, Ohio
Date of Award: September 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets an
abandoned 35-acreformerautomobile
factory located in the downtown area
forcleanupand redevelopmentas part
of the city's Tool Town concept.
Contacts:
City of Dayton,
Departmentof Planning
(937)443-3670
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
Forfurther information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brown fields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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location near the downtown area, existing businesses,
a community college, transportation routes, and a
potential work force, but suspected environmental
contamination at the site has hindered redevelopment.
OBJECTIVES
Dayton will use its Pilot funding to assess and plan for
the cleanup of the former automobile factory for the
Tool Town redevelopment proj ect. The Pilot will also
develop apian to encourage community involvement
in Pilot activities through a series of public meetings.
A Brownfields Resource Team, which supports the
city's Brownfields Redevelopment Authority, will
coordinate Pilot activities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Compiled an inventory of 10 brownfields and targeted
the Harrison Division site, a former automobile
factory.
The Pilot is:
• Completing environmental assessments of the
targeted site;
• Developing cleanup plans for the site;
• Identifying potential funding sources for future
cleanup and redevelopment; and
• Facilitating public forums to encourage community
involvement and obtain input from affected
neighborhoods on environmental concerns and
redevelopment plans for the targeted site.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Dayton Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities, includingthe following:
• A total of $450,000 in redevelopment funding has
been leveraged to date for the Tool Town concept.
The Dayton Tooling and Machining Association
provided $250,000, and the U.S. Congress provided
Dayton with $200,000.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
June 2001
Dayton, Ohio
EPA 500-F-01-034
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