United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-037
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Columbus, 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 Columbus for a Brownfields
Pilot. Columbus (population 632,900) is the nation's
sixteenth-largest city and has grown significantly
over the past two decades. However, this development
has moved away from central Columbus, leaving the
city's urban core littered with abandoned buildings
and former industrial sites. Many of these brownfields
exist near the Port Columbus Airport. The resulting
high unemployment rate, high crime rate, and a lack
of new economic development opportunities led to
Columbus being designated a federal Enterprise
Community (EC). The unemployment rate within the
EC is 16 percent, and the minority population rate is
65 percent.
OBJECTIVES
Columbus will administer Pilot funding through the
Columbus Brownfields Task Force (CBTF), which
was formed in 1996 and comprises both public and
private sector partners. Pilot funds will be used to
perform public outreach and initial environmental
assessments at several sites as well as Phase II
environmental assessments at two sites.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Columbus, Ohio
DateofAward: SeptembeM998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets former
industrial sites located nearthe Port
Columbus Airport and within the
dtysfederally designated Enterprise
Community.
Contacts:
Cityof Columbus, Department
of Trade and Development
(614)645-6427
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brown fields/
For further 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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ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
Created site identification/prioritization, technical
oversight, outreach, and public policy committees
for the CBTF;
Completed work on an informational brownfields
video and manual for the communities in the targeted
area;
Compiled an inventory of 25 sites, and targeted 18
brownfields properties for further investigation;
Conducted assessments on the Cleveland/llth
Avenue, Woodland/Woodward, and A.D. Farrows
properties; and
Completed Phase I environmental assessments at
four sites and Phase II assessments at three sites
(These sites include A.D. Farrows, Galli-4 Corners,
and Woodland/ Woodward.). A site draft Phase II
assessment has been completed for a fourth site.
The Pilot is:
Gathering brownfields site-specific information from
city agencies, local residents, and former and current
property owners; and
Performing Phase II environmental assessments on
three sites, with a draft report completed on a fourth
site.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Columbus Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities, including the following:
The Ohio Department of Transportation and the
Veterans' Administration (VA) provided a total of
$90,000 in funding for Phase I and Phase II
assessments under the Voluntary Action Program.
Cleveland and 11th Avenue 4 Corners leveraged $2
million, with the total leveraged assessment, cleanup,
and redevelopment dollars equaling more than $38
million. The Pilot has secured 253 current or pledged
jobs.
The city was awarded an additional $500,000 grant
under EPA's Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan
Fund Pilot program.
The VA is planning to redevelop the Woodland/
Woodward site into a VA clinic.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
June 2001
Columbus, Ohio
EPA 500-F-01-037
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