United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C.  20460
  Solid Waste
  and Emergency
  Response (5105)
 EPA 500-F-01-038
 June 2001
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
    &EPA    Brownfields Assessment
                      Demonstration  Pilot
                                                             Springfield,  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  Springfield  for a
Brownfields Pilot.  Springfield is a city in west-
central Ohio with a population of approximately
70,000—more  than 18 percent of whom are
minorities and 21 percent of whom are below the
poverty level. The city experienced a post-World
War II boom as a result of industrial and agricultural
growth.  In the  1950s and 1960s, that trend was
reversed.  Inflation and imbalance of wages
contributed to the deterioration ofthe city's industrial
base. For the past 40 years, the city has fought
urban decay caused  by  absentee owners closing
their businesses. The loss  of large businesses and
changes in building codes that  discourage reuse of
older buildings have contributed to the number of
underused and abandoned structures, many with
suspected environmental problems. Although there
are properties available for redevelopment, investors
are unwilling to risk acquiring property that may
have environmental liability. Springfield is designated
a situationally distressed community by the state,
and is located in the  state's enterprise zone.

The Pilot will focus its efforts on a four-acre parcel
near the city's Central Business District.  This site
includes usable buildings, utilities, and access to
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
                     Date of Award: August 1998

                     Amount: $200,000

                     Profile: The Pilottargets a four-
                     acre property near Springfield's
                     Central Business District.
   Springfield, Ohio
Contacts:

City of Springfield
City Manager's Office
(937)324-3700
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-3161
      Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
         http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/

    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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freight rail. The property will be promoted by the city
as amodel forreusing otherbrownfields in Springfield
and throughout the state.

OBJECTIVES
Springfield will promote redevelopment of the city's
underused and abandoned properties through  a
combination  of environmental assessments and
economic incentives. The Pilot's activities at atargeted
property will  serve as a model and catalyst for
brownfields redevelopment efforts throughout the
city.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot is:
• Conducting Phase I and II site assessments on the
  targeted property;
• Reestablishing the Brownfields Task Force;
• Developing  a public outreach program to share
  information about the project with the community;
• Providing education to the community onbrownfields
  reuse,  and enhancing citizen participation  in the
  property redevelopment process; and

• Developing ageographical information system (GIS)
  pertaining to brownfield areas in the city.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot                                                  Springfield, Ohio
June 2001                                                                        EPA500-F-01-038

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