HI
                           C3
  Brownfields  2004

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

   Absentee Shawnee

     Tribe of Oklahoma



EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant,
or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, the President
signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response pro-
grams through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
The target site is located in the Absentee Shawnee
Tribal Service Area (tribal population 2,951), which
serves portions of five central Oklahoma counties. The
area's unemployment rate is 13.2 percent, and the
poverty rate is 15 percent. Birth and unemployment
rates  in the five-county service area continue to grow,
while job opportunities decline. As a result of the
downturn in the region's oil industry, the pipe supply
business declined, leaving the community with a large,
blighted site located  near the area's primary water
source. The site, contaminated with hazardous sub-
  Assessment Grant
  $200,000 for hazardous substances

  EPA has selected the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of
  Oklahoma for a brownfields assessment grant.
  Grant funds will be used to conduct community
  outreach and perform a Phase II environmental
  assessment, including a USGS hydrology assess-
  ment, at two contiguous properties. Once cleaned
  up, the 21-acre site, which formerly was a pipe
  supply business, will become part of the 33-acre
  Red Hills planned-community redevelopment in
  Tecumseh.
   Contacts
  For further information, including specific grant
  contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
  news and events, and publications and links, visit
  the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
  brownfields

  EPA Region 6 Brownfields Team
  214-665-2180
  http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields

  Grant Recipient: Absentee Shawnee Tribe of
  Oklahoma
  405-275-4030

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, the activities
  described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
stances co-mingled with petroleum, poses a threat to
human health and the environment. Redevelopment is
expected to bring 90 new jobs for area residents, help
preserve wetlands, improve the landscape at a major
highway intersection, and increase property values
through investment in the community and stimulation of
small business development. The housing component of
the planned community will offer assisted living options,
multi-generational housing, and single-family housing in
an attractive "sense-of-place" lakefront community.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-04-101
                        June 2004
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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