&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-136
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Maiden, Medford, & Everett, 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 Cities of Maiden, Medford, and
Everett as a Brownfields Pilot. The three communities
are located in an urbanized area five miles north of
Boston. The area's manufacturing and industrial
activities historically centered around the Maiden
River and abutting railroads. In recent years,
manufacturing has declined in Maiden by 13%,
Everett by 61%, and Medford by 79%. Each
community has a lower per capita income than the
state average, and the average poverty rate in the
project area is 9.1%.
The three cities have joined together on a project to
construct a state-of-the-art telecommunications
research and development park, called TeleCom
City. The 200-acre area consists of blighted industrial
land that once supported power generation and
chemical production facilities. The stagnant area is
at the fringe of each community, with no public
access to the river. Perceived and real contamination
hinders economic redevelopment of the area. More
than 70% of the site is vacant or used for parking or
open storage. The TeleCom City project is overseen
by the Mystic Valley Development Commission
(MVDC), a tri-city legislative body established by
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and approved
by the three cities. Funding support of over $1
million has been granted by Massachusetts, with an
additional $30 million committed to this project by
the state.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Maiden, Medford, & Everett,
Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
200 acres of blighted
industrial land for
redevelopment into a
state-of-the-art
telecommunications
research and development
park.
Contacts:
Mystic Valley
Development
Commission
(617)381-7711
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/
-------
OBJECTIVES
Pilot funds will be used to help prepare the project
area for cleanup and redevelopment activities by
developing a comprehensive environmental database
that will make overall assessment less costly than a
parcel-by-parcel approach. The overall objective of
the TeleCom City project is to convert 200 acres of
underused, blighted industrial land into a
telecommunications center that will advance the
local and regional economies. To overcome
fragmented ownership and liability constraints, the
MVDC will obtain ownership control over the proj ect
area and establish a consistent set of zoning controls,
which will allow for comprehensive environmental
testing of the area without the constraints of parcel
boundaries. In addition, significant public
recreational activities and green space will be provided
for the three communities and the general public
through reclamation of the environmentally distressed
Maiden River area.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Updating the existing environmental database in
Maiden;
• Assessing the Maiden River Riparian Corridor in
Medford and Everett;
• Preparing initial site assessments in Medford and
Everett; and
• Assessing the road reconstruction area along the
western border of the proposed TeleCom City.
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
May 1998
Maiden, Medford, & Everett, Massachusetts
EPA 500-F-98-136
------- |