United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-330
July 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Tallahassee, FL
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 Tallahassee for a Brownfields
Pilot. The Gaines Street/Cascades Corridor is currently
the focal point for the city's redevelopment efforts.
As part of Tallahassee's historic rail corridor, the
Gaines Street/Cascades Corridor (Corridor) has
supported chemical warehousing, petroleum
distribution centers, light industry, animal stockyards,
and a city-owned coal gasification plant and dump.
Brownfields properties with known or perceived
contamination have been identified in the Corridor.
Adjacent property owners in need of expansion have
shown no interest in using these brownfields properties.
Tallahassee believes that properties in the Gaines
Street/Cascades Corridor could support increased
residential, commercial, and light industrial uses. The
properties currently fail to contribute to the vitality of
what would otherwise be a vibrant community.
Strategically located between the municipal airport,
two state universities, and the state capital complex,
the Corridor is poised to become a gateway to
downtown Tallahassee.
OBJECTIVES
Tallahassee's objective is to develop an implementable
brownfields cleanup plan that supports and furthers
the broader community redevelopment program for
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Dateof Award: September 1997
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets 150
brownfields sites scattered across
450 acres of the Gaines Street/
CascadesCorridor.
Tallahassee, Florida
Contacts:
Tallahassee-Leon County
Planning Department
(904)891-8621
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404)562-8923
Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region4A/vaste/bf/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/
-------
the Gaines Street/Cascades Corridor. The cleanup
plan will include distinct redevelopment activities,
clear roles and responsibilities for stakeholders, and
extensive public communication on redevelopment
progress. The city anticipates that a measurable
objective for the Pilot will be the degree to which the
public becomes aware of, and involved in, the cleanup
program planning activities.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Completed a corridor-wide assessment;
• Recommended, through the Gaines Street
Vitalization Committee, road alignment, land use,
and zoning considerations for the Corridor;
• Updated a geographic information system (GIS)
with environmental information, including data on
monitoring wells and sites (e.g., soil, geology,
geohydrology, groundwater chemistry); and
• Heldmeetings with the Gaines Street Revitalization
(Steering) Committee to discuss issues regarding
the Corridor revitalization effort.
The Pilot is:
• Continuing to conduct community outreach regarding
the Pilot and sponsoring workshops for stakeholders;
• Completing site and contamination mapping and site
assessments of 27 sites;
• Prioritizing site cleanups and developing cleanup
plans for the Corridor;
• Preparing a feasibility study for the Corridor and an
economic reuse analysis of historic properties; and
• Continuing to collect hydrological data from the
Corridor for the GIS.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Tallahassee Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities, including the following:
• The Florida Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade
and Economic Development awarded a $200,000
grantto complementthe EPA Pilot. In addition, the
city, via the local Architectural Review Board, has
executed an agreementwith the Florida Department
of State, Division of Historical Resources for a
$25,900 grantto conduct a marketing and feasibility
assessment of the reuse opportunities and structural
needs associated with historical properties within
the Gaines/Cascades Street Corridor.
• The Florida Department of Community Affairs
awarded $200,000 to the City of Tallahassee for
implementing activities underthe city's Urban Infill
and Redevelopment Plan. The plan specifically
addresses the Gaines Street/Cascades Corridor.
• Cleanup activities were completed attwo properties,
and redevelopment activities are underway at four
properties.
• A total of $475,900 in redevelopment funding has
been leveraged by the Pilot.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
July 2001
Tallahassee, Florida
EPA 500-F-01-330
------- |