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  Brownfields  2008

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

  Metro,  Portland,  OR


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 this 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 programs through
a separate mechanism.

Community Description

Metro was selected to receive a brownfields assess-
ment grant. Metro is the only directly elected regional
government in the country and serves 25 cities and
three counties in the greater Portland metropolitan area
(population 1,374,500). Metro is targeting small regional
cities with limited resources for assessments. An
inventory of sites identified about 3,000 parcels with
potential petroleum contamination in the region. Of
these sites, 370 are located in the target communities.
They contain waste oil, gasoline and diesel fuel, and
solvents that may pose human health risks and cause
environmental degradation. These communities have
poverty rates ranging from 15 to 32 percent and
contain some of the highest percentages of minority
residents in the region. The median family incomes in
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected Metro for a brownfields assess-
 ment grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
 expand Metro's existing brownfields inventory,
 prioritize sites, and conduct seven to 20 Phase I
 and two to six Phase II environmental site assess-
 ments in the greater Portland metropolitan area.
 Grant funds also will be used to support community
 outreach activities.
 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 10 Brownfields Team
 206-553-7299
 http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/bf

 Grant Recipient: Metro, OR
 503-797-1817

 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
these communities are significantly below the regional
averages. Brownfields assessment will help Metro
define the extent of contamination at the sites and is
expected to facilitate cleanup and redevelopment.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-08-203
                         April 2008
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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