United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
 EPA 500-F-99-005
 March 1999
 www.epa.gov/brownfields/
          PA   Brownfields  Assessment
                   Demonstration   Pilot
                                                              Duquesne,  PA
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  Cities of  Duquesne,
McKeesport, and Clairton for a Brownfields Pilot.
These cities are three of twenty-two communities
located in the Monongahela River Valley in western
Pennsylvania.  With its access to  rail lines and
proximity to the Monongahela River, the valley was
the heart of the country's steel, chemical by-product,
glass, and electrical manufacturing industries for a
century.  From 1970  to  1990, the Pittsburgh
Metropolitan Region, which includes these  cities,
lost 54 percent of its manufacturing jobs as industrial
plants closed due to international competition and
lack of investment—over 89,000 jobs in the metals
fabrication industry alone were lost. The result is the
country's largest concentration of brownfields and
related socio-economic problems. Two-thirds of the
valley's  215,000  residents have a high  school
education or less. One-third of African Americans,
who comprise 14 percent of the population, live in
poverty.

The Steel Valley Authority (SVA), formed in 1986
by 22 valley municipalities, is leading an effort to
revitalize  the  area and  devise an economic
redevelopment strategy.  The SVA developed  an
initial inventory  of 52  brownfields sites totaling
1,420 acres.  The Pilot, through the SVA, will target
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
    Duquesne, Pennsylvania
                     Date of Announcement:
                     March 1999

                     Amount: $200,000

                     Profile: The Pilot targets three
                     sites, one each in the cities of
                     Duquesne, McKeesport, and
                     Clairton, for assessment and
                     community outreach.
 Contacts:

 Steel Valley Authority
 (412)460-0488
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 3
(215)814-3129
       Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
   http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm

    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/

-------
three of these sites for redevelopment in the Cities of
Duquesne, McKeesport, and Clairton. Each of these
cities has already been designated as both a federal
and a state Enterprise Community.

OBJECTIVES

Through the assessment effort, the Pilot will conduct
site-specific community education and involvement
activities to foster  cooperation within the valley
relating to environmental restoration and economic
renewal.  It is hoped that public understanding and
consensus will provide momentum towards economic
redevelopment  for the entire Monongahela  River
Valley.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Performing Phase I and II environmental assessments
 at three sites including:  McKee's Point, Hercules
 Property, and the former Grant Steel site;

• Developing  and  holding  six  Community
 Environmental Restoration Forums; and

• Establishing  community-based  committees  to
 provide input into the forums and project planning
 and evaluation functions.  The  committees will
 include Risk Assessment and Community Health,
 Job Training, and Environmental Justice.

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                                           Duquesne, Pennsylvania
March 1999                                                                         EPA 500-F-99-005

-------