&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-185
July 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Hagerstown, MD
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 Hagerstown for a
Brownfields Pilot. The City's heritage was built on
the manufacturing and railroad industries. Economic
decline since the recession of the early 1980s has left
its mark on the City in the form of high unemployment
and vacant and deteriorating buildings. In response,
the State designated the central portion of the City as
a Revitalization Area. This area contains 42% of the
City' s total population and has an unemployment rate
of 7%. In addition, 23% of the area's families live
below the poverty level.
There is no complete inventory of brownfields
properties in Hagerstown. However, the City is
targeting its cleanup and redevelopment efforts on old
industrial and commercial properties along former rail
corridors and in the Revitalization Area.
OBJECTIVES
The City's main objective is the cleanup and
redevelopment of the old industrial and commercial
properties along the old rail corridors and within the
central urbanized area of Hagerstown. The City
believes this revitalization effort will serve to create
new job opportunities and improve the quality of life
of its residents. To aid in this effort, the Pilot will
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Hagerstown, Maryland
Date of Announcement:
July 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will
target its redevelopment
efforts along former rail
corridors and in the
central, urbanized portion
of the City designated as
the Revitalization Area.
Contacts:
Planning Department
City of Hagerstown
(301)739-8577
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 3
(215)566-3129
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.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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conduct site assessments to identify and evaluate
potential brownfields sites, and encourage community
participation in its planning and redevelopment efforts.
To facilitate this program's outreach, the City has
asked various community-based organizations,
professional organizations, affected citizens, and
economic development-related businesses to
participate on a Stakeholders Committee.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing an inventory of vacant, idled, or underused
properties in the targeted Revitalization Area and
along rail corridors;
• Prioritizing identified sites based on redevelopment
potential in the target Revitalization Area;
• Conducting Phase I assessments on three to four
selected sites;
• Creating a cleanup and redevelopment plan for the
target area; and
• Conducting community outreachactivitiesto involve
stakeholders in the Pilot's planning and
redevelopment efforts.
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 Hagerstown, Maryland
July 1998 EPA500-F-98-185
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