United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-331
July 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Shreveport, LA
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 selectedthe City of Shreveport for a Brownfields
Pilot. Shreveport (1990 Census population 198,525)
is the state's third largest city and is located at the
crossroads of major rail and highway systems that
transport large volumes ofhazardous materials. During
the regional decline of the oil industry in the 1980s,
Shreveport lost 10,000 jobs, many of them located in
the older inner-city industrial area. The inner city
contains hundreds of acres of industrial sites that lie
vacant due partly to the presence or threat of
contamination. Fear of environmental liability due to
brownfields contamination is impeding redevelopment,
increasing urban blight, and causing businesses to
locate in prime agricultural areas outside the city. The
urban core, designated a local empowerment zone
(EZ), had an unemployment rate of 20 percent and a
poverty rate of 40 percent in 1995-96. The area has
been chosen for the federal National Performance
Review program to demonstrate a comprehensive
strategy for enhancing delivery of federal support to
troubled neighborhoods. In 1995-96, citywide
unemploymentwas 10.6percent, 24 percentof families
were living in poverty, and 47 percent of the population
was composed of minorities.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: July 1996
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the
abandoned industrialsiteswithinthe
city's empowermentzone.
Shreveport, Louisiana
Contacts:
Office of Environmental
Affairs
(318)673-6090
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/earth1rfi/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm
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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OBJECTIVES
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
The overall objective of the Pilot is to increase the
economic and environmental viability of Shreveport's
urban core neighborhoods. This will be accomplished
by formalizing partnerships between the city and
other organizations concerned with economic and
environmental revitalization; implementing
environmental assessments at specific properties;
promoting brownfieldsredevelopmentopportunities;
leveraging resources to attract federal, state, and
private funds; and coordinating business, educational,
neighborhood, and other activities to achieve the
overall objective.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Established a Brownfields Advisory Committee to
enable participation by all stakeholdergroups in the
Brownfields Initiative;
• Identified and inventoried more than 300 potential
brownfields sites using a geographic information
system (GIS);
• Completed Phase I and/or II environmental
assessments at 4 of the 16 targeted properties
(following Pilot assessments, the Allen/Ashton and
Kings Highway properties were determined to
require no cleanup activities); and
• Helped sponsor "LouisianaBrownfieldsDay." The
event was dedicated to highlighting brownfields
economicdevelopmentopportunitiesfor legislators,
government officials, developers, and others
interested in brownfields redevelopment.
The Pilot is:
• Exploring legal, financial, and technological options
for brownfields cleanup, planning, and
redevelopment;
• Educatingthe community about brownfields problems
and opportunities in the targeted area; and
• Providing a forum to develop community-based
strategies for long-term brownfields cleanup and
redevelopment.
Experience with the Shreveport Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities, including the following:
• Redevelopment activities are underway at six
properties.
• Ninety-five new redevelopment jobs were created.
• A total of $ 16.3 million in redevelopment dollars was
leveraged for the HICA Steel Foundry and Festival
sites.
• EPA awarded Shreveport a $350,000 Brownfields
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund grant.
• EPA selected Shreveport for a Brownfields Job
Training Pilot grant.
•EPA provided Shreveport with a $200,000
supplemental assistance brownfields assessment
grant in 2000.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
July 2001
Shreveport, Louisiana
EPA 500-F-01-331
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