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/ ------- 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 ------- |