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Assessment Pi
Humboldt County, CA
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected Humboldt County for a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. Humboldt County (population 126,518)
is located in northern California, approximately 240 miles
north of San Francisco. A large number of former
industrial sites, including timber processing plants,
warehouses, and docking facilities, remain idle in what
once was the central base of Humboldt County' s economy.
Forthis Pilot, the county has targeted a 25 6-acre site on the
Samoa Peninsula, across Humboldt Bay from the city of
Eureka. The target area includes the lumber company
town of Samoa, with 62 acres of sand dunes and coastal
forest habitat along the Pacific Ocean and approximately
46 acres of vacant industrial and commercial property.
Over the last 20 years, the economy of Humboldt County
has shifted from its original base in natural resources, such
as timber and commercial fishing, to a more diverse base,
which now includes smaller manufacturing businesses.
The expanding manufacturing sector provides sustainable,
living-wage jobs, but is constrained by the availability of
suitable industrial sites. The Samoa Peninsula offers a
numberofpotential sites forthis sector, but redevelopment
requires addressing the environmental legacy of previous
uses. The county's per capita household income is 78
percent of the statewide average and its unemployment
rate is 6.3 percent, compared to the statewide average of
4.9 percent.
OBJECTIVES
The county's obj ective is to expedite the redevelopment of
vacant industrial and commercial properties on the Samoa
Peninsula that are suitable for manufacturing. To
accomplish this objective, the Pilot will complete
environmental site assessments on properties located
within a 256 acre target area, which is within a state
Enterprise Zone and a Free Trade Zone. The county will
incorporate the results of the assessments into plans for
zoning, redevelopment, and preservation of resources and
open space.
PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Announcement:
May 2002
Amount: $200,000
Profile:ThePilottargetea256-
acremulti-use site wi thin astate
Enterprise Zone and Free Trade
Zone on the Samoa Peninsula
for assessment and
redevelopment into an industrial
park.
HumboldtCounty,
California
Contacts:
HumboldtCounty
(707)268-3735
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA Region 9
(415)972-3249
Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/regon09/waste/brown/index.html
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brown fields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
www.epa.gov/brownfields
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of the Pilot include:
• Completing a Phase I environmental assessment of the
entire site;
• Competing Phase II environmental assessments as
needed to transfer properties or identify the extent of
contamination requiring cleanup; and
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• Integrating Pilot activities and assessment results into
zoning, subdivision, redevelopment, and preservation
plans, including the Humboldt Bay Local CoastalPlan.
The cooperative agreement forthis Pilot has notyetbeen negotiated; therefore,
activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-059
and Emergency May 2002
Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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