&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-179
July 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Long Branch, NJ
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 200 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 Long Branch for a
Brownfields Pilot. The City (population 32,000) is
an urban community located in central New Jersey.
Long Branch has been a beach resort for 150 years.
Beach erosion, a fire that destroyed the amusement
park and fishing pier, increased competition from
tourist centers to the south, and the loss of retail
establishments have reduced the City's economic
vitality. Despite population growth in surrounding
Monmouth County, the population of Long Branch
has declined and unemployment is at 9.6%. Falling
real estate values, deteriorating properties, and known
contaminated sites are contributing to a downward
cycle of urban decline.
The Pilot will focus on the City's Redevelopment
Zone, a 136-acre oceanfront corridor. The City has
identified 14 sites in or adjacent to the zone that are
known to be contaminated, and an additional 15 sites
that are suspected to be contaminated. Many of the
City's minority residents live adjacent to the
Redevelopment Zone. With State assistance and
community support, the City has prepared a
Redevelopment Zone Master Plan. The Cityhasalso
negotiated a streamlined construction review process
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
July 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
a 136-acre oceanfront
corridor designated as a
Redevelopment Zone for
mixed-use redevelopment.
Long Branch, New Jersey
Contacts:
City of Long Branch
(732) 222-7000
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, browrrfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Browrrfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
-------
with the State. These actions have attracted
developers, but the unknown costs of brownfields
cleanups are a major deterrent to the redevelopment
process.
OBJECTIVES
Long Branch plans to implement an integrated
program of community involvement and cleanup and
redevelopment planning, which will serve to revitalize
the City. Pilot funds will be used to prepare an
inventory of brownfields in the RedevelopmentZone,
enhance the involvement of existing community
organizations, conduct assessments at selected sites,
and prepare cleanup plans for assessed sites. The
City has also been designated by the Governor's
Urban Coordinating Council as a Neighborhood
Empowerment Zone, which will enable coordinated
delivery of State services through approved
neighborhood-based plans.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying brownfields and preparing an inventory
of brownfields in the Redevelopment Zone;
• Involving the community in the prioritization of
brownfields and redevelopment planning;
• Performing preliminary assessments and site
investigations at selected sites; and
• Preparing cleanup plans for assessed sites.
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 Long Branch, New Jersey
July 1998 EPA500-F-98-179
------- |