5
o
T>
Brownfields 2006
Grant Fact Sheet
Gratiot County
Brownfield
Redevelopment
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 Gratiot County Brownfield Redevelopment
Authority was selected to receive two brownfields
assessment grants. The economy of Gratiot County
(population 42,503), located in central Michigan, is
based on its rich agricultural lands and the manufactur-
ing sector, especially auto parts production. The
county also has a legacy of crude oil production and
refining. Gratiot has been stigmatized by the presence
of a Superfund site, three former refinery sites, a
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Gratiot County Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority for two brownfields
assessment grants. Hazardous substances grant
funds will be used to inventory approximately 40
sites, perform Phase I, Phase II, and baseline
environmental site assessments, and conduct
outreach activities for sites throughout the
county. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
perform the same tasks at sites with potential
petroleum contamination.
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/R5Brownfields/
Grant Recipient: Gratiot County Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority, MI
989-875-2083
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
former sugar refinery, and numerous other sites related
to its early industrialization. The Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality has listed 27 Gratiot proper-
ties in its database of contaminated sites. There also are
339 underground storage tanks in the county. These
sites are related to activities such as motor vehicle parts
production, scrapyard operations, and agricultural
chemical production, processing, and sales. The
residents who live in the villages and cities where most
of the brownfields are located have significantly lower
income levels than either the state or the nation. The
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-06-114
May 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
-------
poverty rate in some of these communities ranges from
14 to 16 percent. The Gratiot County Master Plan and
the Strategic Plan indicate the need to preserve the
area's rich agricultural land that is under pressure for
development. Assessment and eventual cleanup of the
county's brownfields will help address the health and
environmental threats posed by these sites. Reuse of
these sites will help preserve valuable agricultural and
greenspace and make the community a more pleasant
place in which to work, live, and invest.
------- |