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Brownfields 2006
Grant Fact Sheet
Genesee County
Land Bank Authority,
Ml
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 Genesee County Land Bank Authority was
selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants
and a brownfields cleanup grant. Located in the
eastern part of Michigan, Genesee County (population
443,947) includes the cities of Flint and Mt. Morris,
which are federally designated Enterprise Communi-
ties and Renewal Communities. Flint was the birth-
place of General Motors, but 80 percent of its high-
wage jobs have been lost since 1970 and the popula-
tion has dropped by 73,000. Both Flint and Genesee
County have unemployment rates higher than the
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Genesee County Land Bank
Authority for two brownfields assessment grants.
Hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
complete an inventory and database of potential
sites, and conduct Phase I and II environmental site
assessments. Funds also will be used for cleanup
planning and community outreach activities.
Petroleum funds will be used to perform the same
tasks at sites with potential petroleum contamina-
tion.
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Genesee County Land Bank
Authority for a brownfields cleanup grant. Grant
funds will be used to clean up the four-acre Spring
Grove site at the 500 block of Ann Arbor Street and
600 block of West 2nd Street. Past uses of the site
include a feed and flour mill, coal storage site, junk
yard, lumber warehouse, and concrete batch mixing
plant. When the site is cleaned up, it will provide
greenspace and public access to a planned trailway
connecting to a regional bike trail system.
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 5 Brownfields Team
312-886-7576
http: //www. epa.gov/R5 Brownfields/
Grant Recipient: Genesee County Land Bank
Authority, MI
810-257-3088
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-06-113
May 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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national and state average. Several communities in
Genesee County have poverty rates higher than the
state average, and 26.4 percent of the population in
Flint lives below the poverty level. The area contains
approximately 9,000 brownfields, which have contrib-
uted to the county's financial hardship. Once the
brownfields are assessed and eventually cleaned up,
they will become part of a strategy to create parks,
open space, and mixed-use developments that will fuel
a new market for housing and commercial develop-
ment. Brownfields redevelopment will increase the
local tax base, generate jobs, create greenspace and
trails, and revitalize neighborhoods.
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
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