United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-118
April 1997
Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Lynn, MA
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 Region 1 has selected the City of Lynn as a
Regional Brownfields Pilot. Over the past ten
years, 15,000 jobs have been lost due to a steady
decline of manufacturing, corporate downsizing,
relocation of retail establishments, and the presence
of contaminated sites. Lynn has identified a target
area that encompasses more than 80 percent of the
city's commercial/industrial properties. As a result
of the city's economic decline, the target area has
a 15 percent unemployment rate and a 32 percent
poverty rate.
Three brownfields sites have been identified through
community outreach to be addressed in the pilot: a
former dry cleaning establishment in a residential
neighborhood; a long-time tannery site in an industrial
sector; and a 25-acre landfill and utility site on
Lynn's under-used waterfront. These sites represent
the wide range of developmentproblemsthat confront
the city and will provide diverse models for residential,
industrial, and recreational reuse. Each site involves
different stakeholders and different community
elements, as well as varying types of current and
future uses.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Lynn, Massachusetts
Date of Award:
April 1997
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The pilot will
focus on a former dry-
cleaning establishment, a
long-time tannery site, and
a 25-acre landfill and
utility site.
Contacts:
Peter M. DeVeau
Economic Development
and Industrial Corporation
(617)581-9399
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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OBJECTIVES
Lynn's goals are to implement an innovative
economic/environmental process that allows the city
to identify and assess brownfields areas; solicit
business and grass-roots community participation in
determining the best reuse of these areas; and leverage
funding with other applicable resources. To
accomplish these goals, the city will partner with the
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), a regional
environmental-advocacy, non-profit organization
focused on solving New England's public health and
environmental problems. Pilot obj ectives include the
completion of site assessments and reuse plans for
three targeted sites, creation of a community-wide
outreach process, and development of an inventory
of other brownfields in the city.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
• Conducting site assessments, and completing reuse
plans for the three targeted sites;
• Developing an inventory of identified and potential
brownfields;
• Coordinating community involvement and
redevelopment planning; and
• Preparing educational materials, and performing
community outreach.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot Lynn, Massachusetts
April 1997 EPA500-F-97-118
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