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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

            Millen,  GA


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders 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 City of Millen was selected to receive a brown-
fields assessment grant. Located in eastern Georgia,
Millen (population 3,492) is a rural community that
has experienced a population decline since 1990. The
median household income in the city is only 42
percent of the state's median, 35 percent of residents
live below the poverty level, and the unemployment
rate is 18.6 percent. Many of the city's petroleum
brownfield sites are abandoned properties that origi-
nally were used for light industrial or commercial
purposes, including gas stations, manufacturing  shops,
and machine shops. Most are located on rural roads or
within the main economic corridor of the city. Aban-
doned petroleum sites create blight and are a contami-
nation threat to groundwater. When brownfields are
assessed and eventually cleaned up, they will be
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the City of Millen for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant
 funds will be used to perform approximately ten
 to 15 Phase I environmental site assessments, and
 approximately five Phase II environmental site
 assessments. Funds also will be used for cleanup
 planning.
 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 4 Brownfields Team
 404-562-8866
 http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm

 Grant Recipient: City of Millen, GA
 478-982-6100

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
redeveloped for businesses, homes, parks, or open
space. Brownfields redevelopment will stimulate the
local economy, create employment opportunities,
increase tax revenues, remove blight and its economic
impacts, increase property values, and minimize public
health threats.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-074
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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