United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-273
April 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA EPA Brownfields
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
West Springfield, MA
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 Town of West Springfield for
a Brownfields Pilot. Located in western
Massachusetts, West Springfield (population 27,537)
is a densely populated urban area bordering the
ConnecticutRiver, an American Heritage River. The
West Springfield Trade Center property, an old five-
acre industrial complex, is the targeted Pilot property.
This property, which is in the middle of the Merrick
industrial area, ischaracterizedbymany contaminated
facilities and inadequate roadways. The majority of
nearby residents earn less than 80 percent of the
median income in West Springfield.
The Pilot property is attractive to businesses that
need easy interstate highway access for customer
use and transportation of materials. However,
contamination concerns and inadequate roads in the
area have stalled redevelopment. The city is taking
parcels for non-payment of back taxes with the intent
of redeveloping them. The combination of low-
income neighborhoods and a deteriorating industrial
complex sets the stage for needed in vestment in site
assessment and cleanup in the Pilot area.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
West Springfield,
Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
April 2001
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
several city-owned parcels on
the West Springfield Trade
Center property which is
located within an economically
depressed industrial area.
Contacts:
Town of West Springfield
(413)263-3044
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 1
(617)918-1424
Visit the E PA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/
Forfurther 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 city's long-term objective is to recapture and
renew this area through brownfields cleanup, land-
use and traffic changes, economic development, and
housing development. As part of this objective, the
Pilot will initiate an environmental assessment of
several of West Springfield Trade Centerproperties
and resolve barriers to cleanup.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Evaluating ownership and liability issues of parcels
on the Trade Center property;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
site assessments of parcels and rights-of-way that
are owned, or about to be owned, by the city;
• Designing cleanup plans; and
• Implementing communityinvolvementin the Pilot
area.
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 West Springfield, Massachusetts
April 2001 EPA500-F-01-273
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