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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

   Taylor Borough,  PA


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

Taylor Borough was selected to receive a brownfields
assessment grant. Located in the central region of
Lackawanna County, southwest of Scranton, Taylor
Borough (population 6,262) is in an area of Pennsylva-
nia known as the "Anthracite Region." The area
overlays large deposits of coal seams that were mined
heavily in the  18th and 19th Centuries. In 1966, when
the Taylor Colliery site closed after more than 100
years of operation, this small borough lost 895 jobs.
Taylor Borough experienced greater population  losses
and a larger increase in its poverty rate then did the
county as a whole. Assessment of the target site will
help the borough address the issue of subsurface
subsidence, which is a major obstacle to the redevel-
opment plans for the site. Cleanup of the site will
remove potential risks and obstacles associated with
 Assessment  Grant
 $350,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected Taylor Borough for a
 brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to conduct
 community outreach, produce quality assurance
 and health and safety plans, perform a Phase II
 environmental site assessment, and develop
 cleanup plans for the Taylor Colliery site, a 150-
 acre former coal mining operation. Environmen-
 tal concerns at the site include silt piles and coal
 mining refuse that contribute to acid mine
 drainage and hazards associated with near surface
 mining.
 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: Taylor Borough, PA
 570-562-1400

 The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
 yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
 in this fact sheet are subject to change.
the property's coal mining history. The borough
anticipates that redevelopment of the Taylor Colliery
site will create an estimated 357 new jobs, expand the
tax base, bring new residential and commercial facili-
ties to the area, and provide more than 48 acres of
greenspace for area residents.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-056
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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