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  Brownfields  2007

  Grant  Fact Sheet

    St.  Joseph  County

            Economic

        Development

       Corporation,  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 St. Joseph County Economic Development
Corporation was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. St. Joseph County (population
62,984) is located in southwestern Michigan about
midway between Chicago and Detroit. The "Seed
Corn Capital of the World," St. Joseph is a rural county
with a large agricultural base. Nevertheless, nearly 42
percent of workers are employed in manufacturing. In
recent years, several plants in the county have closed
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the St. Joseph County Eco-
 nomic Development Corporation for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to conduct 12
 Phase I and eight Phase II environmental site
 assessments and to support community outreach
 activities.
 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: St. Joseph County Economic
 Development Corporation, MI
 269-467-5663
 The information presented in this fact sheet comes
 from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
 accuracy of this information. The cooperative
 agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
 ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
 sheet are subject to change.
or laid off workers. The county is targeting sites in the
Cities of Three Rivers and Sturgis for brownfields
assessment. These two cities account for about 30
percent of the county's population and have the highest
poverty rates in the county. They also contain many
abandoned industrial sites and other brownfields that
are ideal for redevelopment. It is expected that the
assessment of these sites will attract redevelopment
investment, thereby easing development pressures on
greenfields. Preserving the county's farmland will help
protect the economic vitality of the agricultural sector
and retain the county's large seed processing plants.
                                               Solid Waste and
                                               Emergency Response
                                               (5105T)
                       EPA560-F-07-167
                       May 2007
                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

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