United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-158
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Carson, CA
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
EPAhas selected the City of CarsonforaBrownfields
Pilot. Carson (population 83,995) is located in southern
Los Angeles County at the crossroads of several
major transportation routes, including four freeways,
two ports, two airports, and rail facilities. Due to this
prime location, the city has attracted a diverse
population and a variety of businesses. There is no
clear population majority in Carson; the racial mix is
22,000 African American, 21,000 Asian-Pacific,
23,000 Hispanic, 29,000 Caucasian, and 11,000 other.
Since the city's incorporation in 1968, it has attracted
over 3,500 businesses within its boundaries.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, the area now known as
Carson was under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles
County and was subject to use as a landfill (there are
17 former landfills) and inconsistent land use patterns;
industrial lots can often be found near single-family
homes. The leading land use in Carson has been and
still is industrial (54 percent), and the resulting
contamination is of concern to city officials. There
are a number of sites within the city with known soil
and groundwater contamination, and the stigma of
this contamination affects the undeveloped properties
in Carson. The Pilot will target five of these sites for
further investigation.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Dateof Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will target
five priority brownfields sites
in southern Los Angeles
County.
Carson, California
Contacts:
Carson Redevelopment Agency
(310)952-1761
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 9
(415)744-2237
Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html
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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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's objective is to identify sites with
development potential by combining newly discovered
sites with the existing city inventory and paring the list
down to amanageable group of 25 undeveloped sites.
The Pilot will then develop criteria to further evaluate
these 25 sites and select five for further investigation
and environmental assessment. Based on prior and
current land uses, it is suspected that many of these
undeveloped sites contain varying levels of
contamination. The Pilot will support the city's overall
obj ectives to create more j obs, increase tax increment
revenues in the redevelopment proj ect area, increase
sales tax revenue, and improve aesthetic and
environmental conditions.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Compiling an initial list of up to 25 potential sites for
redevelopment;
• Performing Phase I and II assessments on five
priority sites from the list;
• Determining cleanup alternatives for each of the
priority sites; and
• Conducting community and stakeholder outreach
activities.
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 Carson, California
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-158
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