United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-056
May 1997
Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Miami, FL
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 Region 4 selected the City of Miami for a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. Miami has identified a
number of potential brownfields in the economically
distressed Wynwood neighborhood (population
15,500), where business is over 40 percent light
industry, warehousing, and commercial. Available
information indicates that soil contamination in
Wynwood is primarily from underground storage
tanks, sewer pipes, and industrial chemicals.
Wynwood includes a State Enterprise Zone (EZ) and
the Miami-Metro Bade Federal Enterprise
Community. Wynwood's poverty rate is 51 percent,
exceeding the rest of Miami by about 20 percent.
Wynwood residents are 62 percent Hispanic and 32
percent non-Hispanic black. Of eight known
contaminated private sector sites, a five to six acre
site will be selected for the Brownfields Pilot.
OBJECTIVES
Miami's focus is to redevelop brownfields in
Wynwood. The City will begin by assessing potential
brownfields, and this will be followed by empower-
ing residents to fully participate in decision making
and planning for redevelopment of any selected site
through town hall meetings and City service centers.
The empowerment is supported by the new Depart-
ment of Community Planning and Revitalization.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Miami, Florida
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $100,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets one of eight known
contaminated private
sector sites in the
Wynwood area of the City.
The targeted site will be
five to six acres.
Contacts:
Bob Schwarzreich
City of Miami
Community Planning and
Revitalization
(305)416-1418
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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The newly restructured City government will place
greater emphasis on the role of the City's Neighbor-
hood Enhancement Teams, which include planners
and other City staff familiar with the dynamics of the
neighborhoods they serve. To reach its objectives,
the Pilot will conduct site assessments, community
outreach, and facilitate redevelopment and cleanup.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Presented the proposed project to the Wynwood
Community for their direct involvement. The City
created the Wynwood Brownfields Workgroup to
determine how brownfields redevelopment will
proceed. The group is composed of a realtor, a
banker, business owners, residents, community
development corporations, and government staff;
• Selected a site for the first Brownfields Pilot envi-
ronmental assessment. Completed the Phase 1 and
2 environmental site assessments at the Pilot site;
and
• Formed the Pilot Advisory Committee to assist the
City of Miami and other cities in the county with
environmental issues regarding brownfields
redevelopment efforts;
The Pilot is:
• Conducting a brownfields audit, including analysis
of preliminary data, site visits, mapping of sites,
testing for pollutants, and reviewing titles;
• Continuing community empowerment activities to
encourage resident participation in redevelopment
planning through town hall meetings, community
decision-making charettes, and distribution of
information on brownfields projects.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Miami Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.
• The City Commissioners have assisted in facilitating
the brownfields project efforts to redevelop a site. A
City-held $ 128,000 demolition lien was reduced by
the City to 15% of its current value to make the
property more attractive to prospective purchasers.
• Efforts of the Wynwood Brownfields Workgroup
identified aprospective purchaser for a brownfields
site in the neighborhood.
• Preparing brownfields conversion plans, including
identification of strategies to overcome obstacles to
redevelopment, presentation of incentives to
encourage local investment, and preparation of
environmental restoration plans.
Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
Miami, Florida
EPA 500-F-97-056
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