United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C.  20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response  (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-023
April 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  v>EPA   Brownfields Supplemental
                   Assistance
                                              Hudson  County,  NJ
  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 awarded  Hudson County,  New Jersey
supplemental assistance for its  Brownfields
Assessment DemonstrationPilot and additional funding
for assessments at brownfields properties to be used
for  greenspace purposes. Hudson County has a
population of 550,789 and is situated on the Hudson
River's west bank, opposite New York City. Hudson
County is a densely populated area with sensitive
wetlands in its northern and western portions. As the
national economy has shifted away frommanufacturing,
the relocation and downsizing of many Hudson County
manufacturing companies has resulted in a 47 percent
decrease in jobs. This trend also has resulted in a
proliferation of abandoned buildings that are obsolete
for  current manufacturing, warehousing, or office
operations. There are almost 650 sites with known
contamination in the County, an average of 14 sites
per  square mile.

Due to space constraints and high population density,
(e.g., approximately 12,000 people per square mile),
there is a lack of green space in the County and the
only economic expansion and revitalization option
available to the county is the redevelopment of
brownfields. Through the initial Pilot grant, Hudson
                                               PILOT SNAPSHOT
 Hudson County, New Jersey
  Date of Announcement:
  March 2000

  Amount: $150,000
  Greenspace: $50,000

  Profile:  The Pilot targets
  brownfields along the
  18-mile Hudson  River
  Waterfront Walkway.
 Contacts:

 Division ofHousing and
 Community Development
 (201)795-6186
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 2
(212)637-4314
       Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
 http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm

     Forfutther information, including specific Pilotcontacts,
   additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
   publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
         http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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County is assisting the municipalities of Harrison,
Hoboken, Kearny, and North Bergen to establish
brownfields redevelopment programs. These
municipalities contain approximately one-third of the
County's contaminated sites. Through supplemental
assistance, the County will expand its brownfields
redevelopment support to include the City of Bayonne
and the towns of Guttenberg, Weehawken, and West
New York. The supplemental assistance will focus
on the development of the Hudson River Waterfront
Walkway, an 18-mile-long pedestrian corridor.

OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES

Hudson  County  plans to use EPA Brownfield
supplemental  assistance Pilot  to  support the
development of  the Hudson River Waterfront
Walkway. The half-complete walkway will provide
recreational opportunities to county residents. With
EPA assistance and  actions taken by the Hudson
County Brownfields Working Group, it is hoped that
the project will be completed in  five years, one-
quarter the current project time to complete.  The
supplemental assistance Pilot will expedite assessment,
acquisition, and construction phases of the project.
The Pilot will also use the greenspace funding to
support development of the Waterfront Walkway.
Upon completion, the walkway will add 6 5-acres of
greenspace to the  community.

To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:

• Identify brownfields along  the Hudson River
 Waterfront Walkway;

• Conduct environmental assessments and develop
 cleanup plans  for the selected sites; and

• Conduct community involvement activities related
 to the selected brownfields sites.

 The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
  Brownfields Supplemental Assistance                                            Hudson County, New Jersey
  April 2000                                                                       EPA 500-F-00-023

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