u o Assessment South Central Planning and Development Commission, LA BACKGROUND EPA has selected the South Central Planning and Development Commission (SCPDC) of Louisiana for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The SCPDC also was selected to receive additional funding for assessments at brownfieIds properties to be used for greenspace purposes. SCPDC (population 330,197) includes mostly small urban and rural communities in Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, and Terrebonne Parishes, the City of Thibodaux, the Towns of Grammercy, Golden Meadow, Lockport, and Lutcher, and the Village of Napoleonville. Historically, the area prospered from abundant natural resources, rich estuaries, marine and freshwater fisheries, animal fur and hides, oil and gas, and a network of waterways, including the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico Intracoastal Waterway. Changes in the business patterns of the region have left south central district parishes with unemployment rates ranging from 3 to 10 percent. The area poverty rate varies between 15 and 28 percent. SCPDC has targeted a former municipal waste site in the City of Thibodaux (population 14,431) for this Pilot. Thibodaux is the largest incorporated municipality in the south central district. The former waste site, called the Audubon Avenue Target Area, occupies 17.87 acres and was donated to the city in the early 1990s, 30 years after it closed. The target area is in a state Enterprise Zone. A 6-acre portion of the property was chosen as the potential site for the Bayou Country Children's Museum, and the city wants to expand its Martin Luther King Playground on the remaining 11 acres. Limited preliminary environmental assessments of the site have indicated the possibility of contamination. OBJECTIVES SCPDC's primary objective is to redevelop the Audubon Avenue site into a children's museum and playground. To accomplish this objective, SCPDC plans to conduct public outreach and awareness activities, PILOT SNAPSHOT South Central Planning and Development Commission, Louisiana Date of Announcement: May 2002 Amount: $200,000 Greenspace: $50,000 Profile: ThePilottorgetsatbrmer municipal waste site in the City ofThibodauxforredevelopment as a children's museum and expansion of a city playground. This project will serve as a model for future projects in the South Central Region. Contacts: South Central Planning and DevelopmentCommission (985)851-2900 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA Region 6 (214)665-6736 Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.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: www.epa.gov/brownfields conduct a detailed Phase II site assessment of the target area, plan and estimate costs for site cleanup, and design an acceptable reuse plan. In addition, Pilot funds will be used to identify potential brownfields sites and rank them, conduct Phase I site assessments on six of these sites, and conduct Phase II site assessments on two of the six Phase I sites. The Audubon Avenue site will provide a model for other sites in the south central district. ------- ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Establishing and conducting public outreach through the ThibodauxBrownfield Pilot Committee; • Conducting a detailed Phase II assessment, developing acleanup plan, identifying cleanup funding sources, and developing a reuse plan for the Audubon Avenue site; • Developing a report and pre sentation using the Audubon Avenue Target Area project as a model for redevelopment ofbrownfields sites throughoutthe region; • Establishing aRegional Brownfields Coalition; • Identifying and ranking potential brownfields sites in the South Central Region; and • Conducting Phase I assessments on six sites in the region and Phase II assessments on two priority sites from this group. The cooperative agreement forthis Pilot has notyetbeen negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-072 and Emergency May 2002 Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/ ------- |