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Brownfields 2006
Grant Fact Sheet
Fairbanks North Star
Borough, AK
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 Fairbanks North Star Borough was selected to
receive two brownfields cleanup grants. Located in
central Alaska, the Fairbanks North Star Borough
(population 85,930) has more than 370 open contami-
nated sites that pose potential threats to drinking
water, soil, and groundwater. The former landfill site,
targeted for cleanup, is in the depressed Chena
Riverbend neighborhood where the household income
is 23 percent lower than the borough's median, and the
unemployment rate is 7.4 percent. Brownfields have
impeded development on what should be prime real
estate and the surrounding neighborhood. When the
neighborhood brownfields are cleaned up, they will
become part of a mixed-use development with park
Cleanup Grants
$400,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Fairbanks North Star
Borough for two brownfields cleanup grants.
Grant funds will be used to clean up the former
City of Fairbanks Landfill at 1980 Second
Avenue, which is contaminated with chromium,
selenium, thallium, and PCBs. The site had
served as an unregulated landfill from 1951 to
1965, and later as baseball fields. Funds also will
be used for community outreach activities. Grant
funds also will be used to clean up the Universal
Recycling, Inc., site at 400 Sanduri Street, which
is contaminated with PCBs, metals, dioxins,
recycled batteries, and waste oil. The site has
been used as a refuse collection and recycling
facility, and a waste-to-energy treatment facility.
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 10 Brownfields Team
206-553-2100
http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/
sites/bf
Grant Recipient: Fairbanks North Star Borough,
AK
907-459-1236
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
areas, commercial development, and housing that will
serve as the western anchor for downtown. Redevelop-
ment of the property will ensure that groundwater
pollution is mitigated, and benefit the economy, envi-
ronment, and health and welfare of the community. The
second cleanup site, the recycling site, is close to two
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-06-194
May 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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communities, a mobile home park, and an industrial
neighborhood. In these areas, 25.6 percent of residents
are minorities, and the poverty rate is more than double
the borough rate. Residents of the mobile home park
include children who could be exposed to contaminants
while trespassing on the site. When the site is cleaned
up, the borough hopes it will become viable light-
industrial property. This redevelopment will create
jobs, increase revenue, reduce the tax burden on the
community, and address the health risks associated
with the contamination.
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