United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-111
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SEPA
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Southern Windsor County Regional
Planning Commission, VT
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. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans 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 Southern Windsor County
Regional Planning Commission for a Brownfields
Pilot. The Southern Windsor County region includes
ten towns in southeastern Vermont, with a total
population of 24,524. The region borders the
Connecticut River on the east, and includes much of
the Black River watershed. For much of the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries, the region dominated the
precision machine tool manufacturing industry, earning
it the nickname "Precision Valley." Other important
industries included woolen, paper, and lumber mills,
and munitions manufacturing.
After World War II, the machine tool industry began
to decline. In the 1980s, several large companies
made sharp cuts in their workforces. Between 1980
and 1990, the number of the people employed in
manufacturing dropped 40 percent, jobs in
communications and public utilities declined 30 percent,
and every town in the region experienced a per capita
decrease in income. These old manufacturing towns
have been left with high unemployment rates, empty
buildings, and suspected environmental contamination
from a century of industrial activity.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Southern Windsor County
Regional Planning Commission,
Vermont
Dateof Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
sites in ten towns within the
"Precision Valley" part of the
Black River watershed.
Contacts:
Southern Windsor County
Regional Planning Commission
(802) 674-9201
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617) 573-9681
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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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's objective is to encourage the cleanup and
redevelopment of idle facilities in the downtown areas
and village centers of the region's towns. The Pilot
will conduct initial assessments at up to eight sites,
and will target at least one site in the region for
complete assessment, to remove environmental and
public health threats and facilitate its cleanup and
redevelopment in keeping with the Southern Windsor
County regional plan. The redeveloped brownfield
will help promote diversification of the region's
industrial base and provide recreational access to the
Connecticut River, which was recently designated as
an American Heritage River.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing an inventory of brownfields sites in the
region;
• Selecting priority sites based on criteria developed
with input from the community;
• Performing Phase I assessments at up to eight
targeted sites, performing Phase II assessments at
a maximum of two targeted sites, and completing a
Phase III assessment on at least one site; and
• Involving the community in the site identification,
selection, and assessment activities.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, Vermont
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-111
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