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  Brownfields  2007

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

            Sturgis,  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 City of Sturgis was selected to receive a
brownfields cleanup grant. Located in St. Joseph
County, the Sturgis (population 11,285) economy
historically has relied on manufacturing. Recent plant
closings and layoffs have hurt the city's economy. The
Paramount site targeted by this grant is in the north-
western portion of the city, where manufacturing firms
were located to be near rail lines. The site was a
furniture manufacturing facility between the mid- 1800s
and the late 1980s, when the facility closed. In the
1990s, a fire destroyed buildings on the property, which
has been vacant since. The Paramount site is in an
area of the city with seven percent unemployment and
a poverty rate that exceeds the city, county, and state
poverty rates.  Site cleanup will reduce the risk of
exposure to industrial contaminants and is expected to
 Cleanup Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the City of Sturgis for a
 brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous substances
 grant funds will be used to clean up the 2.1-acre
 Paramount site located at 303 St. Joseph Street.
 The site is a former furniture manufacturing
 facility contaminated with arsenic and
 benzo(a)pyrene.
 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: City of Sturgis, MI
 269-651-2321

 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.
enable the construction of affordable, single-family
housing.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-07-223
                         August 2007
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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