United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response  (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-280
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  &EPA        EPA  Brownfields
                       Assessment
                       Demonstration  Pilot
                                                         Chautauqua  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 the County of Chautauqua for a
Brownfields AssessmentPilot. The county borders
Lake Erie in the southwestern corner of New York
State. The Pilot targets state Empire Zones in two of
the county's main industrial centers. One target area
is located in Jamestown (population 32,166), and
the other is in Dunkirk (population 12,592).
Manufacturing facilities, textile and woolen mills,
locomotive assembly plants, and metal foundries
flourished before the 1950s, due in part to  the
county's proximity to Lake Erie's shipping routes.
Chautauqua County has lost 12,000 manufacturing
jobs since the 1950s.

A former mill and furniture manufacturing site and a
former woodworking site will be the focus of Pilot
activities in Jamestown. Jamestown is suffering from
declining per capita  income, population, and
employment opportunities. The poverty rate in the
Greater Jamestown Empire Zone is nearly 30
percent, and unemployment exceeds 14 percent.

In the Dunkirk/Sheridan Empire Zone, the Pilot will
focus on a former steel site and a former engine and
                                              PILOT SNAPSHOT
Chautauqua County,
New York
                   Date of Announcement:
                   April 2001

                   Amount: $200,000

                   Profile: The Pilot will inventory
                   brownfield sites throughout
                   Chautauqua County and focus on
                   key sites in the industrial Greater
                   Jamestown Empire Zone and the
                   Dunkirk/Sheridan Empire Zone
Contacts:

Chautauqua County Department
of Public Facilities
(716)661-8400
 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

   Forfurther information, including specific Pilotcontacts,
 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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auto parts manufacturing site. Numerous mills,
factories, and foundries lie abandoned due to real or
perceived environmental problems and resulting tax
liens and title issues. Many of these sites have good
potential for redevelopment, but are left vacant as
developers targetprimeagriculturallandinthecounty.
Thepoverty rate in this blue-collar community exceeds
22 percent, and unemployment is at 12.5 percent.

OBJECTIVES

The county's long-term objective is to expand its
redevelopment program and reduce  the severe
industrial decline and accompanying rise in poverty
and unemployment. To further that objective, the
Pilot  will inventory potential  brownfield sites
throughout the county, develop a procedure for
evaluating and prioritizing sites for redevelopment,
conduct environmental site assessments, and reach
outto affected communities.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Conducting a county wide inventory of potential
  brownfield sites;

• Developing an evaluation process to prioritize
  inventoried sites slatedforredevelopment;

• Conducting site assessments and planning for
  cleanup of high-priority sites; and

• Expanding the activities of the county's Brownfields
  TaskForce to ensure inputfrom community leaders
  and affected residents.

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                                           Chautauqua County, New York
 April 2001                                                                         EPA500-F-01-280

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