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  Brownfields  2007

  Grant Fact  Sheet

      Northern  Maine

         Development

          Commission


EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, commu-
nities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. Abrownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.  On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the
Brownfields Law, EPA provides financial assistance to
eligible applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants. Addi-
tionally, funding  support is provided to state and tribal
response programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The Northern Maine Development Commission  was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
The Commission serves the Northern Maine Economic
Development District (population 76,330), which
comprises 71 municipalities and 137 organized territo-
ries in the northern part of the state. Parts of the
district make up a federally designated Empowerment
Zone. There are three main economic sectors in the
region—potato growing and processing, forest prod-
ucts, and manufacturing. The region lost 1,145 jobs
between 2001 and 2003. The poverty rate in the area
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the Northern Maine Develop-
 ment Commission for a brownfields assessment
 grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to review
 the state's inventory of sites in the region and
 conduct up to six Phase I and up to three Phase II
 environmental site assessments. Funds also will be
 used to support community outreach activities.
 Contacts
 For further information, including specific grant
 contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
 news and events, and publications and links, visit
 the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/
 brownfields.

 EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
 617-918-1424
 http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/

 Grant Recipient: Northern Maine Development
 Commission
 207-498-8736

 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
ranges from 14.3 to 27.4 percent in the various towns
in the district. There are 124 brownfield sites in the
region that have yet to be assessed. The major focus
for assessment will be in the village centers and
downtown neighborhoods where many of the
brownfields are located. The large, unused industrial
and manufacturing sites in these areas pose potential
risks to public health and safety, and are a drain on the
local economy. The Commission envisions future
cleanup activities that will be designed to create space
for new mixed-use development, redevelop old struc-
tures, and increase greenspace.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-07-129
                        May 2007
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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