United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-039
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Trenton, NJ
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 selected the City of Trenton for a Brownfields
Pilot. Trenton, a city of 89,000 people located in
central New Jersey, was a prominent 19th-century
manufacturing center. Initially producing flour and
steel, the City later attracted manufacturers of other
products such as paper, wood, cotton, bricks, and
pottery. As its manufacturing industry declined,
Trenton was left with a host of abandoned industrial
buildings that pose potential environmental threats.
Trenton has formed a partnership with a private, non-
profit community redevelopment organization, Isles
Inc., and has established working relationships with
the New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (NJDEP), the New Jersey Institute of
Technology (NJIT), Rutgers University, and local
community development corporations to addressthese
issues.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of Trenton's brownfields effort are to
identify the problems, opportunities, and resources
of Trenton's brownfields sites. This will be accom-
plished by integrating environmental, technical, and
financial resources to develop a comprehensive strat-
egy for site assessment, cleanup, and reuse. The Pilot
intends to emphasize community training, education,
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Trenton, New Jersey
Date of Award:
September 1995
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets more than 600
acres of potential
brownfields within
Trenton's Urban
Enterprise Zone.
Contacts:
Karen Waldron
City of Trenton
(609) 989-3504
Larry D'Andrea
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
dandrea.larry®
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfieids
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and outreach to involve low-income, minority citi-
zens in its brownfields effort.
Trenton plans to foster an accelerated process of
moving vacant/abandoned brownfields sites to
community assets. The Brownfields Environmental
Solutions for Trenton (BEST) Advisor}' Council will
be used to evaluate the program.
AND
The Pilot has:
• Begun environmental investigations at 15 abandoned
industrial sites, and completed Preliminary
Assessment/Site Inspection (PA/SI) activities on
the first four sites; and
* Created the Brownfields Environmental Solution
for Trenton (BEST) Advisory Council, consisting
of area professionals, to advise the City and its
partners on redevelopment issues.
The Pilot is:
• Undertaking further intensive community outreach
efforts in neighborhoods affected by brownfields.
as in the case of the Magic Marker Plant, the City's
largest brownfields site. With the help of community'
members, in-home presentations and education
workshops at Rutgers University have been held;
* Planning cleanup and reuse of one site as part of the
development of a revolving funding mechanism for
the cleanup of brownfield sites;
* Performing environmentally-related market analy-
ses to identify industries suitable for brownfields
initiatives; and
* Forming an Eco-Industrial Roundtable Discussion
group for the Eco-Industrial program in Trenton.
Experience with the Trenton Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.
* Conducted cleanup, with the help of public and
private dollars, and preparing several properties at
the Crane site for redevelopment. A 12,000-square
foot manufacturing plant is being constructed that
will produce upscale candles. In addition, a turkey
processing plant will begin construction shortly. A
slaughterhouse will also be built within the next few
years. The development of two more facilities is
currently in the planning process. With these potential
developments in place, this future reuse of the
property is expected to result in several hundred
new jobs, primarily construction, assembly line.
foremen, and management jobs.
* The former Champlale Warehouse will be converted
into a food processing plant, with a retail outlet and
cafe, and the Reservoir Street Site will be developed
into an affordable housing project.
• Working with Mercer County Community College
and the Department of Environmental Protection to
explore the potential for "green" job opportunities.
• Partnerships with organizations such as Rutgers
Center for Environmental Communication, NJDEP.
and NJIT will provide the opportunity for the
evaluation of the success of project initiatives.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
Trenton, New Jersey
EPA 500-F-97-039
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