United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-125
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Montgomery County, 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. 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 County of Montgomery for a
Brownfields Pilot. Montgomery County (population
712,466) borders the City of Philadelphia, and enj oy ed
steady growth with improvements in the rail, canal,
and highway systems that linked the county to the city
in the nineteenth century. In the beginning of the
twentieth century, the county expanded its chemical,
electrical machinery, and metalworking industries.
Since World War II, however, industrial production
facilities have moved from the older towns in the
county to suburban towns throughout southwestern
Pennsylvania. As facilities moved, they also drew
residential and commercial development out to the
suburbs, leaving behind empty, idle buildings in the
older towns. As a result, Montgomery County has
numerous brownfields primarily located in its older
towns, many of which are located along the Schuylkill
River and along the rail corridors where the Pilot will
focus its efforts.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot will be the first phase of a county-wide
initiative to develop a single-source inventory of
brownfields in the county. Montgomery County has
designed the regional inventory approach to encourage
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania
Contacts:
County of Montgomery
(610) 278-3680
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will inventory
brownfields in communities
along the Schuylkill River and
along older rail corridors, and
will conduct assessments at
targeted sites in Montgomery
County.
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/
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cleanup and redevelopment of brownfields as a way
to revitalize the county's communities. The county
hopes that this project will complement its existing
revitalization proj ects (e. g., open space, transportation,
enterprise zone programs). In addition to the inventory,
the Pilot and the broader county-wide initiative will
prioritize the sites, describe and clarify cleanup costs
and options, develop pre-approved cleanup plans, and
provide site information to interested stakeholders.
These efforts will improve the environmental health
of the affected towns, revitalize communities whose
labor force and infrastructure are underused, improve
local tax bases, and reduce suburban sprawl and the
depletion of greenfields.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Identifying county brownfields sites and developing
a ranking system based on a number of criteria,
including extent of contamination, access to site,
scope of cleanup, and redevelopment potential and
impact;
• Performing assessments on targeted sites selected
through the ranking system;
• Preparing cleanup and redevelopment plans for the
targeted sites;
• Expanding existing partnerships with local
communities and conducting community
involvement; and
• Establishing a database of the inventoried sites, and
publishing the information and posting it on the
Internet in coordination with the Pennsylvania
Department of Community and Economic
Development (DCED).
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 Montgomery, Pennsylvania
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-125
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