United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-258
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA EPA Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Selma, AL
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, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years,
with additional funding provided for greenspace) to test assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment
and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and 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 program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance 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
EPAhas selected theCity of SelmaforaBrownfields
Assessment Pilot. Selma (population 46,220) is
located in central Alabama, 80 miles south of
Birmingham. The city has suffered from a continuous
decline in manufacturing and an increase in blight for
over 30 years. The closing of manufacturing plants
has most significantly affected the city's poorer
residents. Fifty-one percent of city residents fall
within the low-to moderate-income range, and
unemployment in the city is 10 percent.
The City of Selma will focus its brownfields
redevelopment efforts on three city-owned sites
identified by the community-based Selma Advisory
Board during preliminary environmental audits. The
three priority areas are the 50-acre All-Lock Plant,
the Waterfront district, and the half-acre Selma East
Area Pond. Akey component of the Pilot will be to
involve the city's youth in volunteer projects.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Pilot are to continue efforts to
unite and revitalize the community, redevelop
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will target three
key city-owned properties—the 50-
acre All-Lock Plant, the Waterfront
district, and the Selma East Area
Pond—for assessment and
redevelopment planning to help
reverse the city's 30-year economic
decline.
Selma, Alabama
Contacts:
City of Selma
(334)872-2100
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 4
(404)562-8661
Visit the E PA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm
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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properties that are, or perceived to be, contaminated,
and preserve the rich historical heritage of the city.
The city will encourage community participation on
11 task teams to be established within the Selma
Advisory Board, including task teams addressing
youth and adultparticipation, real estate, economic
development, community involvement, greenspace,
industry, legal affairs, website development, and
coordination.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Completing environmental audits of city-owned
properties;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments atthree priority sites;
• Incorporating brownfields properties into a
database inventory and linking the inventory to a
Geographic Information Systems (GIS); and
• Conducting outreach and public participation.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Selma, Alabama
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-258
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