For EPA's Brownfields Program,
                   "Green"  Refers to  More than the
                   Environment
EPA's Brownfields Program is designed to empower states, communities, and other stakeholders in economic redevelopment to
work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a property,
the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse  of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous
substance, pollutant, or contaminant. EPA's Brownfields Program provides financial and technical assistance  for brownfield
revitalization, including grants for environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training.
  Restoring Local Economies Along with the
  Brownfields That Had Hindered Them

  Brownfields across the country are being redeveloped into productive
  properties, providing their surrounding, often disadvantaged communities
  with economic stability and renewed pride. This site-by-site urban renewal
  is due in large part to the EPA Brownfields Program's Pilots and grants,
  which provide assistance and generate the leveraged funding needed to
  initiate and complete cleanup and redevelopment efforts.

  Transforming abandoned and underused properties into  productive
  contributors to the local economy causes a chain reaction of positive events.
  Often, brownfields redevelopment projects act as a catalyst for large-
  scale community revitalization efforts. Ridding neighborhoods of abandoned
  and blighted properties can reduce crime and bolster community pride,
  and create new opportunities for commerce, employment, and property
  tax revenue.

  Sparking Area-wide Revitalization

  In Springfield, Missouri's industrial corridor, where factories and used-
  car dealerships once stood blocks away from the city center, there is now
  a 12-acre public park, an exposition center, an ice-skating arena, and an
  arts center, with additional projects underway throughout the corridor.

  In an effort to address Springfield's vacant industrial corridor, community
  members and the City Council set out to draft "Vision 20/20: Creating the
  Future," a plan committed to the city's revitalization. During focus group
  and town meetings about this project, community members expressed a
  desire for a new community park. The project found its footing in 1999
  when EPA announced Springfield as a Brownfields Assessment Pilot
  recipient. By funding environmental assessments on some of the 28
  properties acquired for the first phase of the Jordan Valley Park
  redevelopment project, the Springfield Pilot facilitated the redevelopment
  of this area, which served as the starting point for revitalization of the

                                                 continued ^
Opening-day festivities at the Jordan Valley Park
        in Springfield, Missouri.
JUST THE  FACTS:

• Ridding neighborhoods of
  abandoned and blighted properties
  can reduce crime and bolster
  community pride, and create new
  opportunities for commerce,
  employment, and property tax
  revenue.

• Omaha, Nebraska's EPA
  Brownfields Pilot, in partnership
  with Omaha's "Back to the River"
  initiative, has leveraged more than
  $140 million to transform the city's
  riverfront into a sustainable and
  thriving area.

• The City of Lewiston, Maine,
  leveraged nearly $40 million to
  clean up and redevelop a former
  mill site into a new business park
  that created 1,200 jobs for local
  residents.

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    entire corridor. In May 2002, the city celebrated the grand opening of the first part of the Jordan Valley Park, including
    a civic park, amphitheater, and arts center. That fall, the city opened the Jordan Valley Ice Park, a two-rink skating
    arena. And September 2003 saw the opening of the park's "economic engine," as it is known to those involved with
    the project: a new, $12 million exposition center. The tremendous success of the Jordan Valley Park has bolstered the
    community's economy and pride. Benjamin Alexander, Project Manager for the park, said, "[The City of Springfield]
    had a vision and a plan for the Park, but I don't think we would have been as successful, as quickly, without [EPA's]
    Brownfields Program."

    Omaha, Nebraska's waterfront is being brought back to life through the redevelopment of three brownfields. Having
    leveraged more than $140 million toward restoration of the riverfront, the Omaha Brownfields Assessment Pilot, in
    partnership with Omaha's "Back to the River" initiative, is facilitating the transformation of Omaha's waterfront into
    a sustainable and thriving area. The  National Park service recently completed a new office facility on one site.
    Another property has been redeveloped into the Gallup Corporation's headquarters and corporate campus, creating
    nearly 750 jobs. Through the waterfront revitalization project, Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey envisioned a timeless
    symbol for downtown Omaha, stating, "We ought to be thinking about having something that lasts forever." As part of
    the area's transformation, a $23 million pedestrian bridge will be constructed over the Missouri River using contributions
    from federal, state, and local partners. Sixty-four miles of recreational trails will also be constructed throughout the
    area. Funded by a 1998 federal transportation bill that authorized $4.8 million for the project, these trails will provide
    an alternative for commuter traffic, a path to recreational greenspace, and improved accessability to the water.

    Creating  Employment  Opportunities

    In Lewiston, Maine, redevelopment of a former mill site is transforming a vital section of the city's neglected downtown
    into a multi-use business park where history is preserved, investment is stimulated, and jobs are created. Once the
    largest employer in the state, the mill's closing caused the area's unemployment to spike to nearly 50 percent. An EPA
                          Brownfields Assessment Pilot awarded to Lewiston facilitated the property's redevelopment
                             by funding assessments that identified areas of contamination that needed to be addressed.
                                EPA subsequently provided Lewiston with additional funding to assess nearby properties
                                 and awarded the city a Brownfields Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) Pilot.
                                  The city itself leveraged nearly $40 million to clean up and redevelop the historic
                                    mill site. One existing structure was renovated for office and light industrial space,
                                    while another portion of the site was redeveloped into a small park that offers
                                    outdoor gathering space in the center of the complex. The new business park has
                                    already created 1,200 jobs for local  residents. Additional redevelopment at the
                                    site is planned, including  an area for arts and entertainment venues along the
                                    adjacent canal, apedestrian walkway to the nearby river and park, and a convention
                                    center.
                                    In Houston, Texas, nearly 500 new jobs resulted from a project that began with
                                    environmental assessments enabled by EPA's Brownfields Assessment Pilot and
                                   Showcase Community awards. With the Pilot's help, a former 450-acre municipal
                                  landfill became two state-of-the-art, 18-hole golf courses, creating 60 new jobs.
                                 The transformation of a 38-acre cluster of brownfields into a 42,000-seat baseball
                               stadium and areas for cafes, retail shops, and a theater created nearly 230 more jobs.
                              Additionally, the redevelopment of a city brownfield into a new performing arts complex
                              created nearly 200 more jobs. The cleanup and redevelopment efforts initiated by Pilot
                              assessments have stimulated a large-scale revitalization of downtown Houston.
A renovated mitt site in
  Lewiston, Maine.
                                                                                                continued
Brownfields Success Story
EPA-500-F-03-250
                                         Solid Waste
                                         and Emergency Response (5105)
          October2003
www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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   Increasing Tax Revenues
   In Minneapolis, Minnesota, two adjacent brownfields were transformed into a mixed-use gold mine. The project
   began with EPA's award of a $500,000 BCRLF Pilot grant to Hennepin County, followed by two $500,000 supplemental
   funding grants, for a total of $ 1.5 million. The Hennepin County BCRLF Pilot authorized two loans, totaling $875,000,
   for cleanup of an area located in downtown Minneapolis along the Mississippi River. The contaminated area had once
   been home to a car  dealership and  an associated automotive services  facility, various commercial and
   residential facilities,  a stone quarry, various manufacturing operations, a taxi garaee. and
   a trucking facility. With community support and the Pilot's innovative use of a 1
   escalation clause to  cover unexpected costs in its loan agreement, the  area i
   now home to the Village at St. Anthony Falls. This residential and commercial
   complex consists of  177 housing units, including 48 town homes, 12 three-
   story brownstones, 84 loft-style condominiums, and 30 affordable apartments,
   as well as 1,500 square feet of retail and 3,000 square feet of office space.
   It is expected that operation of the complex will return the redevelopment
   investment of more  than $92 million, increase the city's tax base by $2.6
   million, and create  as many as 150 permanent jobs. The BCRLF Pilot
   executed a third loan for $450,000 for cleanup of an industrial property just
   south of the Village of St. Anthony  Falls that will also be redeveloped into
   residential community, a reuse for which the community has indicated a preference.   A brownfieid in Hennepin County, Minnesota,
                                                                                 prior to its redevelopment into a
                                                                                residential and commercial complex.
   Since 1996, the Emeryville, California Brownfields Assessment Pilot has leveraged
   hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private investment in brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. Thus far,
   the redevelopment of brownfield properties formerly used for heavy industrial purposes into office buildings and retail
   stores has resulted in $3 million in property tax revenue and $1.5 million in sales tax every year. The Brownfields Pilot
   established strong working relationships among the city's regulatory agencies, which facilitated a plan between the
   city and Catellus Development Corporation to redevelop an abandoned former railyard site.  Catellus constructed
   more than 200 units of mixed-income housing on the site; this new development also includes an 1,800-square-foot
   community room and 7,500 square feet of retail space, and has won several awards for its design. Approximately 100
   construction workers were hired to build these housing units, which are now fully occupied. Chiron Corporation, the
   second-largest biotechnology firm in the country, built its new headquarters on one of Emeryville's brownfields.
   Chiron plans to construct 12 additional buildings in the area, totaling 2.2 million square feet and employing as many as
   4,200 people in the next 20 years. Overall, construction of retail, hotel, and office complexes on Emeryville's former
   industrial sites is expected to create as many as 10,600 jobs and nearly four million square feet of new facilities within
   the next five years, and provide an additional $6.4 million in annual property tax revenues. The project has already
   leveraged $644 million in private investment and $6.3 million in public sector funding.

   Stimulating Local Economies by Returning Value to Brownfields
                      These are just a few examples of how  brownfields cleanup  and redevelopment has,  with the
                        assistance of the EPA Brownfields Program, helped to boost local economies and improve
                          communities around the nation. Collectively, EPA's Brownfields  Pilots  and grants have
                            leveraged more than $5 billion from an initial investment of less than $700 million. For the
                            most part, this $5 billion is going into disadvantaged, minority communities that are often
                            overlooked or avoided by developers. In addition, Pilots and grants have trained more
                            than 1,700 community members living around brownfields in environmental assessment
                            and cleanup technologies, so they can benefit from the approximately 25,000 cleanup and
                            redevelopment jobs leveraged  by the Brownfields  Program. Through brownfields
                            redevelopment, these communities are now  showing millions of dollars in increased tax
                            revenue, which is invested back into the communities by way of infrastructure
                          improvements. Brownfields redevelopment has proven to be key to revitalizing communities,
                        through lasting changes that provide sustainable economic growth.
             how EPA's
Brownfields Program tools
can work for you, visit EPA's
  Brownfields web site at
    http://www.epa.gov/
       brownfields
   or call 202-566-2777.
Brownfields Success Story
EPA-500-F-03-250
                                                Solid Waste
                                                and Emergency Response (5105)
          October2003
www.epa.gov/brownfields/

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