United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5105)
EPA500-F-00-219
October 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Showcase
Community
Niagara Region, NY
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more coordinated
manner. In 1998, this multi-agency partnership designated 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"—models demonstrating
the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. In October 2000, the partnership selected 12 additional "Brownfields
Showcase Communities" to continue the success of the initiative. The Brownfields Showcase Communities are distributed
across the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged, depending on
the particular needs of each Showcase Community.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected
the Niagara Region in New York as a Brownfields
Showcase Community. The Niagara Region—
including the Counties of Niagara and Erie and the
Cities of Niagara Falls and Buffalo—is home to
more than 1.2 million people and has a significant
industrial legacy. The area contains declining
industrial communities and rural and suburban
townships, all of which contain brownfields sites.
Population loss, economic stagnation, a weak real
estate market, and a high concentration of sites with
environmental contamination make this area one of
the country's most
distressed regions.
Currently more than
40 percent of the
population in Buffalo
and Niagara Falls
lives below the
poverty level. The
Niagara Region is
among the bottom 10
percent of the 100
largest U.S. cities in
terms of household
income, unemployment, and people on public
Community Profile
Niagara Region, New York
assistance. Minorities account for 33 percent of the
population in the region, and the cities of Buffalo and
Niagara Falls have unemployment rates of 8.6 percent
and 9.4 percent, respectively.
Highlights of targeted sites include the 1,200-acre
South Buffalo Redevelopment Area and 1,150 unused
acres of the Bethlehem Steel Plant in Erie County.
The South Buffalo Redevelopment Area includes
more than 3 million square feet of proposed develop-
ment space and promotes the creation of approxi-
mately 4,500 to 10,500 new jobs. Public investment
in the project is approximately $45 to $65 million.
The Bethlehem Steel Plant calls for developing the
unused portion of its
property into a home for
light and heavy industries,
distribution businesses,
and recreational uses.
Habitat restoration will
also be initiated.
Bethlehem Steel has
pledged $5 million to help
prepare the site, whereas
Erie County has commit-
ted $1 million to upgrade
the site's infra
structure.
The Niagara Region Brownfields Coalition
is a unique regional collaboration whose
members include Niagara and Erie
Counties, the Cities of Niagara Falls and
Buffalo, a public university, and a statewide
development agency. The Coalition is
targeting cleanup and redevelopment
efforts in several large areas, including the
1,200-acre South Buffalo Redevelopment
Area and 1,150 unused acres of the
Bethlehem Steel Plant in Erie County.
-------
CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Three of the Coalition partners are EPA Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilots— Niagara
County and the Cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
Coalition members, such as the Niagara
Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund Pilot
and the Western New York Brownfields Training
Initiative, are already working together in various
brownfields efforts. The Coalition also includes
three New York State Economic Development
Zones—the Cities of Niagara Falls, Buffalo, and
Lackawanna in Erie County. In addition, the City of
Buffalo has also been designated a Federal Enter-
prise Community. Approximately 5,000 new jobs
could result from this venture.
The rivers and watersheds targeted by the Niagara
Region have been designated by the U.S.-Canada
International Joint Commission as "areas of con-
cern" based on environmental impairments, such as
poor water and sediment quality. Degradation has
been linked to fish and wildlife habitats, so adviso-
ries have been issued in the region in order to
minimize public exposure to contaminates.
Because the Coalition recognizes the area's abun-
dance of fresh water resources and its strategic
location for binational commerce, it is concentrating
its efforts on brownfields redevelopment as the key
strategy for economic regeneration and environ-
mental revitalization. The Coalition has worked
with EPA, the Government of Canada, the Province
of Ontario, Empire State Development, and other
federal and state agencies to create a Niagara River
Park linking brownfields redevelopment with the
natural, economic, and cultural resources of the
watershed. Another international collaboration is that
of the International Brownfields Exchange, where the
Coalition has partnered with the Waterfront Regen-
eration Trust of Ontario, Environment Canada, EPA,
the German Marshall Fund, and other local partners
to build on recent initiatives and progress in the
region to articulate a vision for the future that trans-
lates into concrete action, emphasizing sustainable
brownfields development, and ecological and
economic restoration.
The Coalition has identified and utilized tax incen-
tives, low-interest loans, and other financing tools for
businesses and developers. For example, the local
governments have initiated 13 projects that have
brownfields cleanup funding available through the
New York State Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act.
The Coalition has formed partnerships with federal,
state, and local entities to address brownfields issues.
A few of the partnerships include:
• EPA, which awarded Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots to Niagara County and the
Cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls with
supplemental awards going to the two cities;
• Standard Ceramics, who has invested more than
$700,000 and created 12 new jobs at a former
Union Carbide facility; and
• Empire State Development and the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development,
which have, under the direction of Niagara Falls,
committed $500,000 to assist the Higher Ground
Christian Church with constructing 40 senior
citizen housing units in a minority neighborhood.
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
Niagara Region, New York
EPA 500-F-00-219
-------
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
The Niagara Region's objective as a Showcase
Community is to serve as a model to link brownfields
restoration to the economic, social, and ecological
restoration of the Niagara River, Buffalo River, and
Eighteen Mile Creek watersheds. The Showcase
Community designation will allow the Coalition to
leverage their dedicated brownfield resources
substantially. The designation will also help focus
redevelopment efforts on those ventures that will
yield the highest benefit to the region's long-term
economic and environmental sustainability. Of the
3,000 brownfields identified in the region, the
Coalition will focus on brownfields identified within
the Niagara River, Buffalo River, and Eighteen Mile
Creek watersheds, as well as brownfields along the
Erie Canal.
Contacts
Niagara Region Brownfields Coalition
(716)645-3446
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase
Communities, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/showcase.htm.
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
Niagara Region, New York
EPA 500-F-00-219
------- |