&EPA
                   United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
                           Solid Waste
                           and Emergency
                           Response (5101)
      EPA 500-F-98-191
      July 1998
                                 Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                       Escambia County,  FL
  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 Escambia County for a Brownfields
Pilot. Located in the northwestern part of the State,
Escambia County has a geographical area of 661
square miles. Palafox Corridor, the gateway to the
City of Pensacola (population 4,401), is the targeted
Pilot community.  The area is characterized by old
houses, solid waste transfer stations, and a multitude
of unused railroad spurs.  Twenty-seven percent of
the City' s residents earn less than $ 10,000, and 5 % of
the community is unemployed.

The Pensacola area economy depends on military
installations, industry, shipping, tourism, agriculture,
health care services, and retail trade.  The  City has
suffered economically from industrial and military
reshuffling. Several key employers have laid off
workers, and the Department of Defense moved its
helicopter repair facility elsewhere. According to a
U.S. Navy study, that closure alone is estimated to
impact 5,450 jobs and produce a total economic loss
of approximately $300 million annually. Although
much of Pensacola is undergoing revitalization, the
Pilot area remains a bottleneck. The combination of
low-income employment, lay-offs in older, more
established industries,  and former  industrial
                            PILOT SNAPSHOT
                           Escambia County, Florida
  Date of Announcement:
  July 1998

  Amount: $200,000

  Profile: The Pilot targets
  the Palafox Corridor for
  cleanup and
  redevelopment into a
  commercial, light industrial,
  and/or commerce center
  surrounded by improved
  residential neighborhoods.
                           Contacts:

                           Neighborhood and
                           Environmental Services
                           Department
                           Escambia County
                           (850) 595-3496
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 4
(404) 562-8661
                                 Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
                            http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.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/

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contamination has  set the stage for much needed
economic, environmental, and social redevelopment
in Pensacola.

OBJECTIVES

Escambia County's long-term objective  is  to
redevelop the Palafox Corridor into a commercial,
light industrial, and/or commerce center surrounded
by improved residential neighborhoods.  As part of
this objective, the Pilot will address environmental
issues and barriers in order to enhance and encourage
redevelopmentthrough site assessments, community
involvement, and development of reuse options.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting Phase I and II environmental site
  assessments;

• Encouraging  community  involvement  by
  establishing a committee-type forum  to discuss
  assessments,   cleanup   technology,   and
  redevelopment issues; and

• Utilizing and expanding the  existing Pensacola
  Brownfields Committee by establishing a
  subcommittee to focus on the redevelopment of the
  Palafox Corridor.

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                                       Escambia County, Florida
  July 1998                                                                      EPA500-F-98-191

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