United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105) EPA 500-F-01-284 April 2001 www.epa.gov/brownfields/ &EPA EPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Chester County, PA 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 EPAhas selected ChesterCountyforaBrownfields AssessmentPilot. Chester County, near Philadelphia, encompasses 756 square miles in southeastern Pennsylvania. The county was a hub of transportation and production during the Industrial Revolution. Its steelmanufacturing industry dates backto before the Revolutionary War, whenfoundrieswere established in many of the county's communities. In time, however, the industrial centers were abandoned, leaving behind a number of vacant "smokestack" facilities. The Chester County Industrial Development Authority, in cooperation with local groups, has selected three sites for this Brownfields Pilot. The first is the 14-acre former Bishop Tube facility that is owned by the authority and located in East Whiteland Township (population 9,153). The second property is the inactive 17-acre Amtrak railyard located in DowningtownBorough (population 8,189), which has an 11 percent minority population. The third property is the 8.5-acre former Lukens Steel facility inCoatesville (population 11,590), which has a 60 percent minority population and a poverty rate of PILOT SNAPSHOT Date of Announcement: April 2001 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will characterize and initiate plans to redevelop two former steel manufacturing sitesand one inactive railyard in Chester County. Chester County, Pennsylvania Contacts: Chester County Industrial DevelopmentAuthority (610)363-6110 Regional BrownfieldTeam U.S. EPA - Region 3 (215)814-3129 Visit the E PA Region 3 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.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/ ------- 18.2 percent. Downingtown is a Pennsylvania- designated Keystone Opportunity Zone, and Coatesville is a state Enterprise Zone. Together, the assessment and redevelopment of these three sites are referred to as the Chester County Brownfields Developmentlnitiative. OBJECTIVES The principal objective of this project is to enhance the prospects of revitalizing the communities that host the three targeted brownfields sites. The Pilot plans to conduct site assessments and develop cleanup plans at the three sites targeted for redevelopment. The Pilot also plans to create and implement a public outreach program that will involve residents, encourage the real estate and industrial development sectors to becomeintegrallyinvolvedinPilotactivities, and share cleanup plans with the community at-large. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Reviewing existing planning data and using environmental site assessments to identify contaminants ateach of the three targeted sites; • Establishing strong cooperative relationships with the communities where the sites are located; • Analyzing ownership and site use histories; • Establishing cleanup objectives and plans; and • Coordinating the Brownfields Initiative with Main Street, Keystone Opportunity Zone, and Enterprise Zone 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 Chester County, Pennsylvania April 2001 EPA500-F-01-284 ------- |