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Brownfields 2004
Grant Fact Sheet
Wiyot Tribe, Table
Bluff Reservation, CA
EPA Brownfields Program
EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders in economic development
to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up,
and sustainably reuse brownfields. Abrownfield site is
real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse
of which may be complicated by the presence or
potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant,
or contaminant. On January 11, 2002, the President
signed into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response pro-
grams through a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The Wiyot Tribe was selected to receive a brownfields
cleanup grant. A federally recognized tribe, 92 of the
Wiyot Tribe's 450 enrolled members live on the Table
Bluff Reservation. Most of the rest reside in surround-
ing communities, including the nearby city of Eureka
(population of 30,000). The tribe suffers from 29
percent unemployment and a 36.7 percent poverty rate,
compared to 5.2 percent unemployment and a 12.9
percent poverty rate in Humboldt County. Indian Island
is a spiritual center for the tribe and the site of the
former village of Tuluwat, which was the site of a
yearly Tribal World Renewal Ceremony. Inhabitants of
the village were brutally massacred in 1860, and as a
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Wiyot Tribe for a
brownfields cleanup grant. The grant will be used
to clean up a contaminated dry dock and ship
repair facility in Tuluwat Village on Indian Island.
The dry dock was in operation from 1870 until
1990, and the 1.5-acre property is contaminated
by paint, solvents, metals, petroleum products, and
pesticides. Following remediation, the site will be
restored as part of the Wiyot Tribe's sacred
Tuluwat Village site and dance grounds.
Contacts
For further information, including specific grant
contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
news and events, and publications and links, visit
the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
brownfields.
EPA Region 9 Brownfields Team
415-972-3188
http://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/brown/
Grant Recipient: Wiyot Tribe, Table Bluff Reser-
vation, CA
707-733-5055
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
result, the Wiyot Tribe lost a connection to much of its
cultural heritage. Once the site is cleaned up, the tribe
plans to restore the ecology of the island and hold a
World Renewal Ceremony there again, for the first
time in 140 years.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-04-100
June 2004
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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