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Brownfields 2005
Grant Fact Sheet
Bucks County
Redevelopment
Authority, PA
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 Bucks County Redevelopment Authority was
selected to receive a brownfields cleanup grant. The
county has a population of 587,635, of whom 58,434 live in
the target area around the Riverfront South Bensalem
cleanup site. This area has been home to many great
industrial giants, which have downsized or discontinued
their operations in the last 20 years. Poverty and unem-
ployment rates in the area are among the county's highest,
in some cases two to three times the county rate. These
economic downturns have resulted in blighted conditions
and rapidly dilapidating and unused structures in the
community, including at least 32 brownfield properties.
Cleanup Grant
120051
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Bucks County Redevelop-
ment Authority for a brownfields cleanup grant.
Grant funds will be used to clean up hazardous
substances, including volatile organic compounds,
polycyclic aromatic compounds, polychlorinated
biphenyls, pesticides, and arsenic, at the
Riverfront South Bensalem site at 2375 State
Road in Bensalem Township. Funds also will be
used for public health monitoring at the site, and
community notification and outreach.
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 3 Brownfields Team
215-814-3129
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm
Grant Recipient: Bucks County Redevelopment
Authority, PA
215-781-8711
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
From 1917 to 1999, the 26-acre cleanup site, located along
the Delaware River, was the location of various industries,
including shipbuilding, warehousing, and chemical blending
and manufacturing. Cleanup of the site will remediate
contaminated land, eliminate blight, and reduce threats to
human health and the environment. Redevelopment of the
site as a mixed-use area, including housing, office and
retail space, restaurants, and greenspace, will create jobs,
increase tax revenues, and serve as a catalyst to bring
other brownfield sites in the area back into productive
reuse. It also will allow access to the passive and active
recreation available along the Delaware River riverfront.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-05-039
May 2005
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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