&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-131
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Lewis ton, ME
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. 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 has selected the City of Lewiston for a
Brownfields Pilot. The declining fortunes of the
New England textiles industry has adversely affected
the City of Lewiston (population 39,757). The main
focus of brownfields cleanup and redevelopment in
Lewiston is the 1.2 million-square-foot Bates Mill
Complex. Historically, the eleven-building mill
complex employed more than 5,000 people and was
the state's largest employer. Economic decline and
massive layoffs, however, have resulted in a large
abandoned mill and a barren downtown. In the
community surrounding the mill, unemployment is
16.1%, compared to 7.5% for the entire city. The
poverty rate in this community is 47.3%, while the
rate for the city is only 3.9%. Revitalization of
Lewiston's downtown and waterfront depends upon
returning the Bates Mill Complex to productive use.
Because total renovation is estimated to cost between
$70 and $100 million, the city has renovated the
cleanest and most desirable sections of the mill first.
Signs of the mill's rejuvenation are beginning to
show, with 24 small businesses and 300 people
operating in two sections of the complex. Real and
perceived environmental contamination hampers
development of the remaining 67% of the complex.
A Phase I environmental site assessment has already
taken place. Without the Pilot, financial constraints
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Lewiston, Maine
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the 1.2 million-square-foot
Bates Mill Complex; in
1950, the textile mill was
responsible for one-third of
the nation's textiles
produced.
Contacts:
Planning and
Development Office
City of Lewistown
(207) 784-2951 x302
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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would prohibit a Phase II assessment of the most
contaminated parts of the mill, and developers may
avoid such properties with unknown potential
environmental cleanup costs.
OBJECTIVES
Lewiston's objective isto use the Bates Mill Complex
as an anchor for downtown cleanup and economic
redevelopment, and as a catalyst for community job
creation. Lewiston plans to use Pilot funds to
overcome barriers to mill renovation posed by the
most contaminated sections of the complex. Initial
Pilot funding will be used for site assessment, site
identification, and site characterization. Roundtable
discussions with stakeholders will then produce an
action plan for cleanup. Those discussions will also
help to identify additional investors and creative
financing solutions.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Performing a Phase II environmental site assessment
of the Bates Mill Complex, including a chemical
and waste inventory, and sampling and analysis of
equipment rooms, sumps, drainage ways, cross
canals and mill raceways;
• Compiling contamination data for the complex;
• Building community participation through
roundtable discussions and workshops to identify
community needs, stakeholders, and underlying
concerns;
• Creating a stakeholder-generated action plan for
cleanup and revitalization of the mill complex; and
• Identifying ways to leverage existing resources
with new ones identified during the Pilot process.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet
are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Lewiston, Maine
May 1998 EPA 500-F-98-131
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