&EPA
                   United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
                           Solid Waste
                           and Emergency
                           Response (5101)
      EPA 500-F-98-180
      July 1998
                                Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                              Morris  County,  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 Morris County for a Brownfields
Pilot.  The Pilot includes  13 small municipalities
(average population 15,714) that lie along a 40-mile
corridor adjacent to the Rockaway River in northern
New Jersey. The region has been an industrial center
since the Revolutionary War, with mining and forging
operations based on local iron  deposits.  Many of
these  industrial  sites  were abandoned and
subsequently used for auto repair and salvage
operations. The legacy of the area's industrial past
has left brownfields scattered throughout the corridor
where multiple industries have released unknown
amounts of contaminants. The  water quality of the
Rockaway River  and its associated aquifers, on
which nearly one million people  depend for drinking
water, has been jeopardized by this contamination.

The communities located near brownfields  are
characterized by elevated unemployment and poverty
rates and impaired property values. Tradition and
"home rule" by local towns has prevented regional
cooperation in brownfields assessment, cleanup, and
redevelopment in the past.
                             PILOT SNAPSHOT
                           Moms County, New Jersey
  Date of Announcement:
  July 1998

  Amount: $200,000

  Profile: The Pilot targets
  brownfields located in 13
  municipalities that liealong
  a 40-mile corridor adjacent
  to the Rockaway River in
  northern New Jersey.
                           Contacts:

                           Municipal Utilities
                           Authority
                           Morris County
                           (973) 285-8383
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/superfund/brownfld/
                                         bfmainpg.htm

                             Forfurtherinformation, 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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OBJECTIVES

Morris  County's objectives are to return  urban
brownfields to commercial  reuse  consistent with
community  interests; relocate or modify  existing
riverside development to enhance water quality and
create  recreational  uses; and create employment
opportunities and strengthen the tax base in depressed
municipalities. AmajorgoalofthePilotistoovercome
the jurisdictional obstacles present when dealing with
13 separate towns with home rule. Pilot funding will
be used to  identify, characterize, and prioritize
brownfields in the corridor. The Pilotplansto initiate
and maintain community involvement activities with
residents in  brownfields communities. Finally, the
Pilotplansto leverage assessmentand cleanup funding
from sources  such  as the New Jersey Hazardous
Discharge Site Remediation Fund.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Identifying and characterizing brownfields in Morris
  County and collecting site-specific information, to
  be compiled in a database with appropriate links to
  a regional geographic information system;

• Performing  environmental assessments  on  a
  minimum  of 9 sites based on  evaluation and
  prioritization of sites in the County;

• Developing specific cleanup and redevelopment
  plans for these 9 sites;

• Conducting community outreach activities in the 13
  target communities; and

• Developing a strategy to coordinate cleanup and
  reuse activities with 13 separate municipalities.

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                                       Morris County, New Jersey
  July 1998                                                                       EPA500-F-98-180

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