Brownfields Area-Wide Plannini i Pilot Project Fact Sheet Ironbound Community Corporation, Newark, NJ EPA Brownfields Program EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states, communi- ties, and other stakeholders to work together to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brown- fields. A brownfield 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. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields sites. Un- der this law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible applicants to assess and clean up brownfield sites. Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program EPA is piloting an area-wide planning approach to com- munity brownfield challenges, which recognizes that revitalization of the area surrounding the brownfield site(s) is just as critical to the successful reuse of the property as assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment of an individual site. The pilot program will help further community-based partnership efforts within underserved or economically disadvantaged neighborhoods by confronting local envi- ronmental and public health challenges related to brown- fields, while creating a planning framework to advance economic development and job creation. Pilot Project Description EPA has selected the Ironbound Community Corporation as a Brownfields Area-Wide Planning Pilot Program recipient. The Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) will focus its project on the Ironbound community, in the East Ward of Newark, home to over 50,000 residents. The community contains the remnants of a once vibrant economy, anchored by a large brewery that closed in the 1970s. Many manufacturing opera- tions have closed, leaving behind contaminated sites and deteriorating infrastructure. The area is economically distressed with the poverty rate as high as 55 percent. The community Pilot Program Description EPA is awarding approximately $4 million in total across 23 recipients. Recipients will each receive up to approximately $175,000 in EPA cooperative agreement and/or direct technical assistance. Assistance will help recipients initiate development of an area- wide plan and identify next steps and resources needed to implement the plan. Contacts For additional information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.aov/brownfieldsy EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization (202) 566-0633 Assistance Recipient: Ironbound Community Corporation, NJ (973)589-3353, ext. 213 The information presented in this fact sheet comes from the project proposal; EPA cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. The cooperative agreement and/or direct technical assistance have not yet been negotiated. Activi- ties described in this fact sheet are subject to change. contains more than 100 brownfields, many located near residential and recreational areas. The ICC will build upon existing revitalization and redevelopment efforts to develop a brownfields area-wide plan to create sustainable recreational and mixed-use development throughout the Ironbound community. Development of the plan is expected to facilitate brownfield assessment activities, identify cleanup goals based on the anticipated reuse of properties, assess reuse and linkages to infrastructure, and reconnect the community to local job opportunities, commercial, and recreational areas. Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5105T) EPA560-F-10-003M October 2010 www.epa.gov/brownfields ------- |