United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
                          Solid Waste
                          and Emergency
                          Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-017
May 1997
  xvEPA
National
Assessment  Pilot
                                     Knoxville,  TN
  Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
                                         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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 selected the City of Knoxville for a
  Brownfields Pilot. In the Fall of 1992, the City of
  Knoxville? s Department of Economic Development
  requested assistance from the Tennessee Valley
  Authority in evaluating the feasibility of alternatives
  for the redevelopment of Knoxville's Center City
  Business Park.  The study area comprises 566
  acres in the center of the City, including many
  acres of abandoned or under used commercial and
  industrial property. Approximately ISOacreshave
  been identified as potentially  suitable for
  redevelopment.

  Over the past two years, citizens, businesses and
  community groups, local and State economic
  development organizations, and academic
  institutions have assisted the City and the Tennessee
  Valley Authority in  the formulation and
  development of the Knoxville Center City Business
  Park Brownfields Redevelopment Initiative. The
  Brownfields Pilot funds are being used to move
  forward with their redevelopmentplan. Successful
  assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of this
  critical area not only has the potential to affect the
  economic well-being of a large segment of inner-
  city residents, but also to have a significant impact
  on the quality of life in adjacent neighborhoods.
                          PILOT SNAPSHOT
                          Knoxville, Tennessee
  Date of Award:
  September 1995

  Amount: $200,000

  Site Profile: The Pilot
  targets 566 acres in the
  center of Knoxville, 150 of
  which have been identified
  as potentially suitable for
  redevelopment.
                         Contacts:

                         Scott Goodrich
                         City of Knoxville
                         (423)215-2174
                         sgoodric@esper.com
  Barbara Dick
  U.S. EPA-Region 4
  (404) 562-8923
  dick.barbara@
  epamail.epa.gov
                                Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
                                http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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OBJECTIVES

Through this brownfields effort, Knoxville will rees-
tablish the inner city as the vibrant center of Knox-
ville by joining residents, community agencies, and
the private sector in a coordinated  partnership  to
revitalize the area. The Pilot plans to accomplish this
by planning to develop a portion of the Center City
Business Park with a "green" theme including at-
tracting businesses in the recycling, reuse, andmanu-
facturing industries. The strategy includes identify-
ing and assessing environmental contamination, ex-
ploring options for  businesses to redevelop vacant
properties, and working with lenders  to provide low
interest loans to environmentally friendly compa-
nies.  The  strategy will be developed through an
ongoing dialogue between the private sector and
local, State,  and  Federal  regulatory agencies  on
brownfields issues, including establishing criteria to
determine when a property is "clean"  and what types
of use can be permitted on contaminated sites.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The Pilot has:

• Prioritized different areas within the target area,
 Center City, for ongoing work;

• Set up the Knoxville Brownfields World Wide Web
 Homepage  (http://www.korrnet.org/Knoxville/
 brownfields.html). This site includes information
 on the study area, development events, and links to
 other resources, including the City's and EPA's
 homepage; and

• Conducted a neighborhood tour of West View to
 identify concerns of the community as related to
 brownfields sites and design issues. The findings
 were brought to  the redevelopment team  for
 incorporation in a design team concept.

The Pilot is:

• Investigating sites  that are  believed to  be
 contaminated, and determining the most appropriate
 and cost-effective methods of remediation;

• Expanding and improving the City's community
 involvement plan by developing  a community
 outreach program on Brownfields;
• Developing a redevelopment plan that includes a
 land  acquisition, assemblage,  relocation, and
 clearance program for the City Center area;

• Developing programs to identify ways to  assist
 prospective purchasers with environmental and le-
 gal issues,  identifying additional funding sources
 for redevelopment, and attracting private invest-
 ment in the brownfields study area;

• Meeting with current property owners, realtors,
 prospective buyers, and lending institutions to de-
 termine how to expedite environmental revitaliza-
 tion; and

• Developing an implementation plan to identify ways
 to ensure thatthe cleanup activities do not aggravate
 existing environmental threats and to determine the
 potentially responsible parties.

LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Knoxville Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.

• Local educational institutions  and community
 development groups are working together to develop
 a skilled workforce within neighboring  inner-city
 communities as an employment base for current and
 future businesses in the project area.

• East Tennessee Design Center and the University of
 Tennessee are developing design guidelines forthe
 Center City area. The Urban Site Design class from
 the University of Tennessee's Graduate Planning
 program is focusing on Center City redevelopment
 to produce a coordinated approach to development
 through the use of Urban Site design criteria.

• The City is receiving assistance from the Tennessee
 Valley Authority to assess the feasibility of a small
 business incubator in the Center City area.

• Working with the business community on the
 identification of specific property needs to encourage
 relocation in the brownfields areas.
  National Brownfields Assessment Pilot
  May 1997
                             Knoxville, Tennessee
                               EPA500-F-97-017

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