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Assessment
Sanilac County, Ml
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected Sanilac County for a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. Sanilac County (population 44,547) is
located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron, approximately
65 miles north of Detroit. Plant closures and declining
economic development have spurred community interest
in cleaning up brownfields to attract new businesses and
preserve farmland and greenspace. Although the locations
of hundreds of potential brownfield properties are largely
unknown, most are thoughtto be in the county' s population
centers, where poverty rates have reached as high as 23.9
percent. These brownfields have contributed to urban
sprawl and economic decline within the county.
Sanilac County is ranked first in the state for agricultural
land use acres. Since 1992, urban sprawl, primarily
northward from the Detroit metropolitan area, has claimed
14,700 acres of farmland. Three employers left the area
between 1993 and 1999, taking away 6,600 full- and part-
time jobs. Manufacturing utilizes 24 percent of the
workforce and is the county' s principle employment sector,
but the average manufacturing wage is only half of
Michigan's average manufacturing wage. Per capita
income is $10,330 compared to $23,551 for the state.
Unemployment in the county is 6.2 percent compared to
4.7 percent for the state, and 14.3 percent of county
residents live below the poverty level.
OBJECTIVES
The county' s primary obj ective for the pilot is to locate and
inventory brownfield properties and evaluate their
environmental status as a first step toward redevelopment
of properties in population centers. Pilot funds will be used
to inventory and prioritize approximately 50 brownfield
properties in the county's population centers, complete
Phase I and II environmental assessments and baseline
environmental assessments on priority properties, and
develop community involvement strategies initiated
throughout the creation of the County Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Sanilac County,
Michigan
Date of Announcement:
May 2002
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot seeks to
identify and inventory up to 50
brownfields and to perform
assessmentworkatpriority sites
near communities having high
unemployment and low per
capita income.
Contacts:
Sanilac County Brownfields
RedevelopmentAuthority
(810)648-7000
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA Region 5
(312)353-0123
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:
www.epa.gov/brownfields
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying, inventorying, digitizing, and prioritizing up to
50 of the county's brownfields;
• Producing and distributing site-specific brownfields
information in both hard copy and on the county's web
site; and
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• Completing Phase I and Phase II environmental site
assessments and baseline environmental assessments
at priority brownfield properties.
The cooperative agreement forthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore,
activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-066
and Emergency May 2002
Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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