United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-107
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Hat/dam, CT
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. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs 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 Town of Haddam for a
Brownfields Pilot. Haddam is a small, rural town of
7,200 residents located in the Connecticut River
Valley. This section of the Connecticut River, which
has been designated as an American Heritage River,
contains an important tidal wetlands area that supports
a diverse fish, wildlife, and vegetation population.
The town's unemployment rate has increased since
1994, in large part due to the loss of the town's three
largest employers. Altogether, more than 50 percent
of Haddam's tax base has been lost, at a time when
the population is increasing. This has strained municipal
services, especially education. Although the town
needs to grow and diversify its business and industrial
tax base in order to provide for the populace, residents
want to preserve the rural character of the town. The
Pilot will target three properties in Higganum Center,
a small business center in the town where drinking
wells, soil, and groundwater have suspected
contamination.
OBJECTIVES
As part of a broader town effort to eliminate potential
environmental health hazards, diversify the tax base,
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Haddam, Connecticut
Contacts:
Town of Haddam
(860) 345-8531
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $156,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
three publicly-owned properties,
totaling 6 acres, in Higganum
Center—one of two small
business centers in Haddam.
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
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/
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and protect the open spaces, ecosystem, and rural
character of Haddam, the Pilot will target three
brownfields in one of the town's two business centers.
In developing its comprehensive plan, the town
identified these three sites as opportunities to help
achieve economic diversity while removing a potential
public health threat. The Pilot plans to continue the
grassroots community involvement, evidenced in the
town's comprehensive planning process, throughout
the assessment and cleanup planning phases.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Performing Phase I, II, and III assessments at the
three targeted sites;
• Coordinating community outreach efforts;
• Preparing a cleanup feasibility study for each site;
and
• Conducting an ecological assessment of a stream
adjacent to the 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 Haddam, Connecticut
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-107
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