United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-048
May 1997
Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Cincinnati,OH
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. EPA is funding more than 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 Region 5 selected the City of Cincinnati for a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. The City's project centers
on 500 acres of vacant property, affecting apopulation
of about 106,000 within the Mill Creek Valley
watershed. Declining employment, poverty rates up
to 67 percent in some areas, and environmental blight
characterize the Valley community. One area of the
watershed is a State Enterprise Zone. In excess of 30
sites are threatening water quality. Some companies
have expressed an interest in locating within the
Enterprise Zone but are reluctant due to contain ination
concerns. The Vine Street Dump is a 10.5 acre
property that directly abuts the Mill Creek. The site
is drastically underutilized (vacant on weekdays and
a flea market on weekends) and an eyesore to the
community. The site is on Ohio EPA's Master Site
List as a medium priority. It is located on a major
thoroughfare, with nearby highway access, and is
expected to be highly developable.
OBJECTIVES
Cincinnati's brownfields objectives are to revitalize
the existing Port Authority as a brownfields
redevelopment authority, develop a Brownfields
Community Advisory Committee (BCAC), and plan
for the cleanup of two brownfields sites in the Mill
Creek Valley watershed. Working with the Port
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $100,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets the Vine Street
Dump and other sites
within the Mill Creek
Valley watershed.
Cincinnati, Ohio
Contacts:
Antoinette Selvey-Maddox
Dept. of Economic
Development
(513)352-3784
Ted Smith
U.S. EPA-Region 5
(312)353-6571
smith, edwin@epamail.
epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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Authority, the BCAC will help develop criteria for
targeting brownfields. Following site selection, public
meetings in conjunction with neighborhood councils
and workshops will be held to help develop plans for
the two selected sites.
AND
The Pilot has:
* Selected Vine Street Dump as Pilot project site.
The Pilot is:
* Conducting site assessments and other
implementation planning at Vine Street Dump and
one other site in Hamilton County;
* Developing a public participation process;
* Conducting an environmental impact prc-and post-
development study; and
* Creating an economic redevelopment model.
Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot Cincinnati, Ohio
May 1997 EPA 500-F-97-048
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