United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-320
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Supplemental
Assistance
Rio Grande Council of Governments, TX/NM
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 work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, and safely clean up
brownfields to promote their sustainable reuse. Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and
commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination. EPA is funding: 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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup
of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental field; and, 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 Rio Grande Council of
Governments to receive supplemental assistance for
itsBrownfieldsAssessmentDemonstrationPilot.
The Council covers six counties in western Texas
and southern New Mexico, including the City of El
Paso. The Pilot targets two of those counties: El Paso
County, Texas; andDonaAnaCounty,New Mexico.
The areas in these counties where brownfields are
concentrated have high (over75 percent) minority
populations, low incomes, and high unemployment
rates. Selection of sites forredevelopmentis driven
by a combination of environmentaljustice concerns,
economic development potential, and community
support.
The supplemental assistance will be used to target
three sites in El Paso: a three-acre former S outhern
Pacific freight terminal, the closed 144-acre Zaragosa
landfill, and a 10-acre site in central El Paso. The
freight terminal is a protected and highly visible
historic structure within El Paso's federal
Empowerment Zone. The freight terminal is slated
for mixed-use redevelopment, including commercial
and governmental functions, and currently is for sale.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $150,000
Profile: The Pilot targets three
brownfields in distressed El Paso
neighborhoods:theformer Southern
Pacific FreightTerminal, the
Zaragosa Landfill, and a site in
central El Paso.
Rio Grande Council of Governments,
Texas/New Mexico
Contacts:
Rio Grande Council of
Governments
(915)533-0998
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 6
(214)665-6736
Visit the E PA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm
Forfurtherinformation,includingspecific 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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Two parties are interested in redeveloping the site.
The Zaragosa landfill originally was located in a
remote desert location but is now bordered on three
sides by new residential development. The landfill
owners are willing to donate 100 acres of the site for
redevelopment. The 10-acre site in central El Paso
has ahistory of heavy industrial use,includingrailroad
refueling, metals recycling, andrustproofing. Either
the landfill or the 10-acre site will be selected for
redevelopment as an animal shelter.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Supplemental assistance will be used to conduct
Phase I and Phase II assessments at the three
identified properties and prepare redevelopment
plans at two of the three properties. Supplemental
assistance also will be used to conduct site-specific
community involvement. These efforts will build on
community support and capacity developed during
the originalPilotproject.
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting public involvement and outreach,
includingholdingneighborhoodmeetings;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II assessments at
the former Southern Pacific freight terminal, the
Zaragosa landfill, and the 10-acre site in central El
Paso;and
• Preparing redevelopment plans for two sites (the
freight terminal and the site selected for the animal
shelter).
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields SupplementalAssistance Rio Grande Council of Governments, Texas/New Mexico
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-320
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