United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-111
April 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Hartford, CT
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.
OVERVIEW
EPA has selected the City of Hartford as a Brownfields
Pilot. Of the more than 1,100 acres in the city that
were once in productive use, 30 percent have been
abandoned since 1986. More than 750 buildings,
presenting unknown environmental hazards, are
vacant as the result of industrial migration from the
city. The industrial exodus has presented serious
economic and social problems for the city. In 1995,
62 percent of the city's population of 125,100 was
identified as living below federal low-to-moderate
income guidelines. Between 1989 and 1995, the
number of jobs fell by 22 percent. The city believes
that to reverse this decline it must be able to offer
inner city sites of comparable acreage and accessibility
as those offered by suburban locations for
redevelopment.
The pilot will target blighted and deteriorated sites in
three Hartford neighborhoods—Sheldon/Charter Oak,
Upper Albany, and Clay Arsenal. Unemployment
rates in these target areas range from 15 to 24 percent,
and minority population rates range from 80 to 99
percent. Although each of these neighborhoods has
attempted to address economic problems through
community-based efforts, the perception of
environmental contamination has impeded
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Hartford, Connecticut
Date of Award:
April 1997
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The pilot will
target blighted and
deteriorated sites in three
Hartford neighborhoods—
Sheldon/Charter Oaks,
Upper Albany and Clay
Arsenal.
Contacts:
Madelyn Colon
Hartford Redevelopment
Agency
(860) 543-8655
John Podgurski
U.S. EPA Region 1
(617)573-9681
podgurski.john@
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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redevelopment. The city believes that, without site
investigations, potential purchasers will continue to
avoid the unknown environmental risks at these
brownfields.
OBJECTIVES
Hartford's goal is to attract manufacturing and
commercial industries to brownfields sites. Pilot
objectives are to select three brownfields sites for
redevelopment, conduct environmental assessments
at the three sites, develop site-specific redevelopment
strategies, and conduct community outreach.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
• Prioritizing and evaluating brownfields sites to
determine their redevelopment potential, and
selecting three target sites;
• Conducting preliminary environmental assessments
at the three target sites;
• Developing site-specific redevelopment strategies
for these sites;
• Developing a model for community residents
participating in brownfields redevelopment
planning; and
• Educating the community about barriers to
redevelopment.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Hartford, Connecticut
April 1997 EPA500-F-97-111
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