&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-133
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Methuen, 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. 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 Town of Methuen for a
Brownfields Pilot. Methuen (population
approximately 40,000) is amix of farm land, suburban
subdivisions, urban neighborhoods, and industrial
businesses. In the mid- to late-1800s, mills along the
Spicket River produced hats, shoes and textiles.
Today, due to an industrial decline, Methuen has
numerous vacant lots and underused historic buildings
that could provide new jobs in an area where 33% of
the residents—primarily ethnic minorities—live
below the poverty level. Yet, despite the need for
available space, the uncertainty of environmental
contamination is an obstacle to economic
redevelopment. The challenge of stimulating
economic development in the town is magnified by
the town's proximity to the City of Salem, New
Hampshire which is a tax-free center.
Methuen has identified two general areas for
brownfields cleanup and restoration—downtown and
the Arlington neighborhood. The Pilot will target
three abandoned properties within those areas: 1)
Notini's Market, located in the Arlington
neighborhood, is a 2.5-acre vacant supermarket, and
prior to that was home to a chemical plant; 2) Methuen
Mills was the home of a cotton mill until a fire in 1995
burned all the buildings on the half-acre site in the
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Methuen, Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
three vacant commercial
and industrial brownfields
sites, ranging from 0.25 to
40 acres in size.
Contacts:
Town of Methuen
(978) 794-3231
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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downtown area; and 3) the Garabedian site is a 40-
acre site in downtown that was used as a car dealership
in the 1950s. The stigma of potential environmental
contamination at these sites, which are surrounded
by Methuen's most impoverished neighborhoods,
has posed financing obstacles for area banks that
would otherwise be interested in redeveloping these
properties.
OBJECTIVES
Methuen's objective is to expand and diversify the
business and industry tax base while providing
employment and services for its citizens. The Pilot
will conduct Phase II environmental assessments at
the three targeted properties. The Arlington
Neighborhood is Methuen's most disadvantaged
community, and will be targeted by the Pilot for an
environmental justice initiative. In addition, there
are several brownfields that the town is considering
acquiring through tax foreclosure. The Pilot will
assess these properties to help the town determine
where best to direct its brownfields resources.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase II environmental assessments at
Notini's Market, Methuen Mills, and the Garabedian
site;
• Conducting Phase I, and if necessary Phase II,
environmental assessments at properties that the
town is considering for tax foreclosure; and
• Conducting an Arlington Neighborhood
Environmental Justice Initiative, consisting of
community meetings to seek citizen input for the
project and to describe the measures being
considered.
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 Methuen, Massachusetts
May 1998 EPA 500-F-98-133
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