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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact Sheet

       Wilmington,  DE


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 Wilmington was selected to receive  a
brownfields assessment grant. Located between  the
Brandywine and Christina Rivers, Wilmington (popu-
lation 72,664) has an industrial heritage centered on
these rivers. The Christina River was ideal for steel
and shipbuilding industries and for transporting
manufactured goods to the Delaware River, and  the
fast-flowing Brandywine River provided hydroelectric
power for textile and gun powder manufacturing.
However, after World War II, this manufacturing base
declined. Most of Wilmington's brownfields sites are
concentrated in the predominately minority-populated
northeastern, eastern, and southern portions of the city,
with about 1,500 acres of brownfields. Wilmington has
a poverty rate of 21.3 percent, and in the areas targeted
for assessment, the poverty rate is 33.8 percent,  and
 Assessment Grant
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the City of Wilmington for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to conduct
 approximately five to ten Phase I and II environ-
 mental site assessments, develop redevelopment
 plans, and implement 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 3 Brownfields Team
 215-814-3129
 http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bfs/index.htm

 Grant Recipient: City of Wilmington, DE
 302-576-2120

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
minorities comprise more than 70 percent of the
population. Revitalized brownfields will be used for
new residential opportunities, recreational areas, retail
and commercial uses, and a riverfront walkway.
Brownfields redevelopment will create jobs, remove
blight, eliminate threats to public health and the
environment, reduce crime rates, and foster renewed
civic pride in communities.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-047
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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