United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-297
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Great Barrington, MA
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 worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
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 has selected the Town of Great Barrington to
receive supplemental assistance for its Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Great Barrington
(population 7,740) is the commercial center of southern
Berkshire County, a rural area of western
Massachusetts. The town's poverty rate is 7.5
percent; its unemployment rate is 4 percent; and its
household income is 91 percent of the statewide
median income. Between 1993 and 1997, the Berkshire
Economic Target Area, which includes Great
Barrington, lost more than 2,000 jobs. The town has
been designated as a state Economic Target Area,
which allows it to take advantage of the state's
Economic Incentive Development Program.
Great Barrington plans to further the efforts of the
original Assessment Pilot by targeting the 150-year
old, 8.2-acre former industrial riverside site for cleanup
and redevelopment. Originally a textile mill, it was
used more recently as a wood processing and treatment
facility for the New England Log Homes company.
Affected by the housing slump during the late 1980s,
the company finally closed its facility in 1993, leaving
an abandoned building. An assessment by the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) discovered the presence of
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $100,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the New England Log Homes
site, a 8.2-acre former wood
processing and treatment
facility located on the
Housatonic River in western
Massachusetts.
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Contacts:
Town of Great Barrington
Office of the Town Manager
(413)528-1619
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1347
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
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:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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hazardous materials, including dioxins andpolynuclear
hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the soil. After a short-term
cleanup was conducted, the DEP deemed that further
assessments of the site were required, which were
subsequently conducted by the original Assessment
Pilot. Through the Pilot, the town and the Community
Development Corporation of South Berkshire, Inc.
(CDC) forged a strong partnership and proved
instrumental in designating the targeted site an
Economic Opportunity Area. While the site stands
empty, unpaid property taxes are currently estimated
atmore than $137,000.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The Pilot, in coordination with the CDC, will use
EPA's supplemental assistance grant to build on the
momentum generated by the original Assessment
Pilot grant to return the 8.2-acre downtown site to
productive use by evaluating cleanup options and
designing a cleanup plan.
The Pilot plans to:
• Conduct an evaluation of cleanup alternatives;
• Develop a design plan for selected cleanup options;
• Conduct site preparation and cleanup planning; and
• Conduct community outreach regarding the targeted
site.
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 Great Barrington, Massachusetts
April 2001 EPA 500-F-01-297
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