United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-293
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Norwich, CT
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders
in economic redevelopment to worktogether in atimelymannerto prevent, assess, and safely clean up brownfieldsto promote
their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where expansion
or redevelopment is complicated by real orperceivedenvironmentalcontamination.EPAisfunding: assessment demonstration
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years, with additional funding provided for greenspace), to test
assessment models and facilitate coordinated assessment and cleanup efforts at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels;
and job training pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities
affected by brownfieldsto facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and preparetraineesforfuture employment intheenvironmental
field; and, a cleanup revolving loan fund program (each funded up to $1,000,000 over five years) to provide financial assistance
for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states, tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified approach
to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Norwich to receive
supplemental assistance for its Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot. Norwich
(population 3 7,319) is located approximately 15 miles
north of New London and 40 miles southeast of
Hartford, at the head of the Thames River. Located
within one of the oldest settled areas in the United
States, Norwich has suffered high unemployment
and poverty rates in recent years due to the departure
of textile and other major manufacturing industries
duringthe 1960s and 1970s. Nearly 12 percent of the
population lives in poverty. To reduce poverty within
distressed neighborhoods, the State of Connecticut
designated Norwich as a targeted investment
community and an urban enterprise zone.
This area of Connecticut was once one of the
nation's leading firearms manufacturing centers and
home to stove, lock, paper, and textile manufacturers
serviced by the Norwich-Worcester Railroad. By
1987, however, manufacturing jobs in the area had
dwindled to only 17 percent of the area's total
employment. Many former factories have been torn
down or now sit abandoned in the midst of residential
neighborhoods. Several of these properties have
suspected contamination. The Pilot seeks to restore
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Norwich, Connecticut
Date of Award: April 2001
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot planstofocus
on conducting environmental
assessmentsonformerhistoric
mill sites and abandoned
brownfields properties withinthe
Norwich EnterpriseZone.
Contacts:
City of Norwich
(860)823-3822
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1389
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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these major, abandoned industrial properties to
productive use, many of which are located within
Norwich's Urban Enterprise Zone.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The Pilot will use EPA's supplemental assistance to
continue to eliminate or minimize the uncertainty
related to environmental and liability issues
surrounding brownfields sites located in the Norwich
Enterprise Zone. The Pilot will identify these issues
and develop a strategy for cleanup and redevelopment
at selected sites in three target areas—the Falls
Avenue properties, the area between Chestnut and
Franklin Streets, and the Shipping Street/Terminal
Way area. These areas are home to historic mill
structures or former industrial sites that have high
redevelopment potential and could be catalysts for
additional development in the city.
The Pilot plans to:
• Develop a brownfields inventory and database
focusing on three property clusters that fall within
the Norwich Enterprise Zone;
• Select three sites for Phase I environmental site
assessments based on priority sites identified in the
inventory;
• Work with community groups to conduct outreach
activities in the impacted communities; and
• Perform Phase II and Phase III environmental
assessments at one selected site.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this tact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance
April2001
Norwich, Connecticut
EPA 500-F-01-293
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