United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
 Solid Waste
 and Emergency
 Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-074
May 1997
                       Regional   Brownfields
                       Assessment  Pilot
                                                       Somerville, MA
  Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
                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, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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 Region 1 selected the City of Somerville for
  a Regional Brownfields Pilot.  Somerville is a
  community of about 76,000 inhabitants, the most
  densely populated city in Massachusetts, covering
  4.2 square miles, just 3 miles north of Boston. In
  1990, about 11 percent of the population lived in
  poverty.  The historic mix of land use in the City
  has led to a relatively large number of brownfields
  interspersed among  residential neighborhoods.
  About 17 percent of the City is used for industrial
  and commercial purposes. Soil contamination,
  identified by the Massachusetts Department of
  Environmental Protection, on 67 properties within
  the City' s borders, is in need of further investigation.
  The number of contaminated properties may
  increase as more sites are investigated.

  OBJECTIVES

  Somerville's Office of Housing and Community
  Development is taking the lead in developing a
  program to promote private sector reuse of
  contaminated properties. The Pilotwill assess and
  plan for the remediation of three demonstration
  sites which will lead to the creation or retention of
  jobs and contribute to the health and quality of life
  in surrounding neighborhoods. A maj or obj ective
 PILOT SNAPSHOT
Somerville, Massachusetts
  Date of Award:
  September 1996

  Amount: $100,000

  Site Profile: The Pilot
  targets three
  demonstration sites to
  develop a model that will
  promote private sector
  reuse of contaminated
  properties.
 Contacts:

 Mary Jo Bohart
 Office of Housing &
 Community Development
 (617) 625-6600 ext. 2500
   Lynne Jennings
   U.S. EPA-Region 1
   (617)573-9634
   Jennings.lynne@
   epamail.epa.gov
        Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
        http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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ofthePilotisto construct an administrative mechanism
that complies with and reconciles Federal housing
and urban development and environmental protection
policies and guidelines, while serving as a model for
other properties. The Pilot will explore approaches to
brownfields cleanup stop-loss insurance.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The Pilot is:

• Developing a computer  database  on CD-ROM
 including potential brownfields sites and information
 about the City's brownfields program.  The CD-
 ROM will be distributed to real estate agents and
 interested developers;

• Conducting a city-wide investigation of potential
 brownfields sites;

• Developing model legal documents to be used in the
 site testing and stop-loss insurance programs; and

• Conducting site assessments to estimate remediation
 costs at three demonstration sites with the greatest
 potential for reuse.


LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES

Experience with the Somerville  Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities including the following.

• The City of Somerville is planning to provide funds
 for stop-loss insurance to cover remediation costs in
 excess of estimated costs.  The program will be
 funded by a Community Development Block Grant
 from the Department of Housing  and Urban
 Development.
 Regional Brownfields Assessment Pilot                                          Somerville, Massachusetts
 May 1997                                                                      EPA 500-F-97-074

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