United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-279
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA EPA Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Albany County, NY
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, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years,
with additional funding provided for greenspace) to test assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment
and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels; and 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 program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance 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 Albany County for a Brownfields
Assessment Pilot. The county, which is located along
the banks of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers (a
designated American Heritage River), has a
population of 292,793 and is home to many long-
standing manufacturing, industrial, and commercial
activities. These activities have resulted in a large
number of potentially contaminated sites spread
across the county. Many of these sites are located
in prime locations on the rivers and close to
transportation facilities, and many are located in
New York State designated Empire Zones, which
offers incentives targeting job creation and new
investment.
Albany County will focus on three municipalities for
this Pilot: the Village of Green Island; the Town of
Colonie; and the City of Cohoes. All three are in a
state Empire Zone. These municipalities include
traditional commercial and industrial centers that
have been underused or abandoned. They represent
some of the most needy areas of the county. The
poverty rate in these three areas (total population
95,812) is as high as 13 percent, and the
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets three
municipalities within the poorest
areas of Albany County, all of
which are within state designated
Empire Zones.
Albany County, New York
Contacts:
Albany County Dept. of Economic
Development, Conservation and
Planning (518) 447-7040
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 2
(212)637-4314
Visit the E PA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/
bfmainpg.htm
Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific 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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unemployment rate ranges up to 9 percent. Most of
the 475 acres of land proposed for the project are
known or suspected to have environmental
contamination issues. Because of these issues and
related liabilities, the Empire Zone Program has been
insufficient to entice business investment in these
areas.
OBJECTIVES
The county's objectives are to remove much of the
uncertainty surroundingliabilityforcleanup at several
sites in the Empire Zone, develop a mechanism for
environmental cleanup, and prepare the sites for
redevelopment and reuse. To further these objectives,
the Pilot will fund community outreach, site
identification, Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments, and cleanup planning.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing a master list of potential brownfields
sites within the Empire Zone;
• Establishing a Brownfields Task Force to ensure
community outreach and participation in the Pilot
redevelopment process;
• Performing six to ten Phase I environmental site
assessments at sites within the Pilot area; and
• Selecting one or two sites from the Phase I site
assessment poolfor Phase Ilsite assessments.
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 Albany County, New York
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-279
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