United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-132
May 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
<&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Westbrook, ME
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, 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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
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 City of Westbrook for a
Brownfields Pilot. Westbrook was also selected to
receive additional funding for assessments at
brownfields properties to be used for greenspace
purposes. Situated in the southern coastal section of
Maine, just west of Portland, Westbrook (population
16,074) is a small, historic mill town struggling with the
legacies of its industrial heritage and falling short in its
efforts to reclaim lost business from the region's
ever-expanding strip malls. The Presumpscot River,
which flows through the city's center, has fueled
Westbrook's mill economy for more than 200 years.
Like so many older industrial communities, most of
Westbrook's lumber, textile, and pulp and papermills
have shut down in recent years. The most significant
of these closings is that of portions of the Sappi Pulp
and Paper Mill, which has long served as the city's
largest employer, and in 1998 represented 26.7 percent
of the municipal tax base. In April 1999, Sappi
announced that it would cease all pulp operations and
dramatically reduce its paper manufacturing capacity.
This had tremendous impacts on the local economy,
including the elimination of hundreds of jobs, the
reduction of local tax revenue, and the idling of more
than 100 acres of prime industrial land.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Westbrook, ME
Date of Announcement:
May 2000
Amount: $200,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The Pilot targets the
Foye Mill and Sacarrappa Island
brownfields sites on the
Presumpscot Riverand the Maine
Rubber site in the city's downtown
area. For greenspace purposes
the Pilot targets the former
wastewatertreatment Lagoon and
another publicly owned lot.
Contacts:
Westbrook City Hall Regional Brownfields Team
(207)854-9105 U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1424
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/bmfld/
Forfurtherinformation, including specific Pi lotcontacts,
additional Pilot information.brownfieldsnewsandevente.and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
Ultimately, the city's Brownfields Revitalization
Initiative plans to leverage public and private funds to
attract "clean" businesses to the city, create good
jobs, increase the tax base, improve recreational and
commercial access to the riverfront, and generate
public pride in the city. The City of Westbrook will
use Pilot funding to perform assessments in order to
develop plans for cleanup, commercial redevelopment,
open space, and public use of the Foye Mill and
Sacarrappa Island brownfields sites on the
Presumpscot River and the Maine Rubber site in the
city's downtown area. The Pilot will institute a
program to ensure that all members of the Westbrook
community are informed about brownfields issues
and take an active part in the decision-making process
at the targeted lots.
The Pilot will use the greenspace funding to assess
and address environmental conditions along the
riverfront of the Presumpscot River. The objectives
planned to be achieved with the greenspace funding
include expanding and improving access to the river,
boosting downtown river waterfront revitalization
efforts, and creating new recreational outlets for
residents by connecting Westbrook's riverfront to
other river segments by joining with existing trail
networks. One site of particular interest, Westbrook's
former Wastewater Treatment Lagoon site, provides
direct links to existing regional trail systems and
harbors enormous potential to increase recreational
enjoyment of the river.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting environmental assessments ofthe Foye
Mill, Sacarrappa Island, and Maine Rubber sites;
• Evaluating cleanup and reuse options for the three
target sites;
• Using greenspace funding to conduct assessments
at the Lagoon and Mill sites;
• Using greenspace funding to evaluate cleanup and
reuse options for the Lagoon and Mill sites that will
create recreational areas to increase public access
to and use ofthe river; and
• Developing a community outreach program to
involve residents in the decision-making process at
the targeted sites.
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
May2000
Westbrook, ME
EPA500-F-00-132
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