United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-00-125 May 2000 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ \>EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Union City, CA Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105) 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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental 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 Union City for a Brownfields Pilot. Union City is located in the southern portion of Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area. Like many Bay Area cities, Union City's population of 62,5 00 has grown rapidly over the last decade (16 percent) due to the explosive growth of Silicon Valley. This has resulted in a demand for more housing in a city that is nearly built-out with few open sites left. Additionally, the city's Park and Recreation Master Plan sets a goal of three acres of park land for each 1,000 residents—this goal has not yet been met. To help meet its recreational and housing needs, the city has targeted two brownfields sites in the Decoto and Old Alvardo neighborhoods and within designated Redevelopment Areas for assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment as residential and park/recreational space. These neighborhoods are predominantly minority, with 89 percent and 81 percent minority rates, respectively, and poverty rates of 12.4 percent and 7.1 percent. OBJECTIVES The objective of the Pilot is to help further Union City's goals of creating new housing and recreational space by assessing and developing PILOT SNAPSHOT Union City, CA Date of Announcement: May 2000 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot plans to conduct environmental assessments to spurthecleanup and redevelopment of two brownfields in the Decoto and Old Alvarado neighborhoods. Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 9 (415)744-2237 Contacts: Department of Public Works and Parks, Environmental Programs Division Union City (510)471-3232 Visit the EPA Region 9 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/index.html Forfurther 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 plans for two brownfields sites, the Johnson Industrial Park and the Horner/Veasy site. The Pilot will establish a Brownfields Action Team that will guide Pilot activities, including community outreach efforts such as neighborhood and citywide meetings. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Completing environmental assessments on two brownfields sites—the Johnson Industrial Park in the Decoto neighborhood and the Horner/Veasy site in the Old Alvarado neighborhood; • Developing a cleanup plan for the targeted sites; • Establishing a Brownfields Action Team to monitor Pilot activities; • Identifying additional brownfields properties in the city; and • Conducting community outreach, including targeted site neighborhood meetings and citywide hearings at the completion of each assessment. The cooperative agreementforthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Union City, CA May2000 EPA 500-F-00-125 ------- |