o 5 o Brownfields 2005 Grant Fact Sheet Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum, MA 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, President George W. Bush 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. Addi- tionally, funding support is provided to state and tribal response programs through a separate mechanism. Community Description The Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum was selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The Town of Essex (population 3,267) is a rural community on Cape Ann, 26 miles north of Boston. From the time of its settlement until the early part of the 20th Century, shipbuilding accounted for most of the town's revenues. Today the main sources of income for the town come from the shellfish industry and tourism. The museum, on the site of the old Story family shipyard, is currently used as a non-profit education and historic preservation facility for wooden shipbuilding and associated crafts. Each year thou- Cleanup Grant 120051 $200,000 for hazardous substances EPA has selected the Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum for a brownfields cleanup grant. Funds will be used to remove and dispose of soil contaminated with hazardous substances at the museum site at 66 Main Street. Funds also will be used to place a physical barrier over the remaining contaminated soil, and conduct community involvement activities. The contamina- tion is associated with the site's long history of shipyard activities between 1813 and the 1990s. 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 1 Brownfields Team 617-918-1221 http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/ Grant Recipient: Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum, MA 781-631-1537 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. sands of visitors, including school groups, visit the museum. The museum property also provides recre- ational access to the Essex River which flows through the largest contiguous marsh in New England. The soil and sediment at the site are contaminated with metals, PCBs, and poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Since the site is unpaved, soil contamination poses human health risks and possible transport of contaminants to sediments in an adjacent tidal inlet of the river. Cleanup of the soil contamination will reduce these threats to human health, eliminate a source of contamination to Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA560-F-05-012 May 2005 www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- the Essex River, and allow the museum to dedicate its economic resources to providing educational and historic preservation functions to the community. ------- |