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 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

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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.

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