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Brownfields 2006
Grant Fact Sheet
Sparfa, A/C
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 Town of Sparta was selected to receive a brown-
fields assessment grant. Located in the Appalachian
Mountain range of northwestern North Carolina,
Sparta (population 1,817) is the Allegheny County seat
and its only municipality. Since 2000, the town has
witnessed the closing of four of its top five employers.
These closings resulted in the loss of nearly 2,000
manufacturing jobs, or one-third of the total labor
force. The unemployment rate in Allegheny County is
8.8 percent, and the Town of Sparta's poverty rate is
18.3 percent. Sparta plans to follow up on previous
groundwater sampling that suggested the presence of
contamination at a site designated for the location of
the Sparta Teapot Museum. Former drycleaning
activities at the site are suspected to have caused the
contamination. Once assessed and cleaned up, the site
Assessment Grant
$50,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Town of Sparta for a
brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous sub-
stances grant funds will be used to further
characterize chlorinated solvent contamination at
the Sparta Teapot Museum site. Grant funds will
be used to install a minimum of two permanent
groundwater monitoring wells, collect surface
soil samples, collect groundwater elevations from
all monitoring wells, and conduct an upgradient
groundwater assessment in the shallow and
intermediate groundwater depths.
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 4 Brownfields Team
404-562-8866
http://www.epa.gov/region4/waste/bf/index.htm
Grant Recipient: Town of Sparta, NC
336-372-8118, ext. 39
The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
in this fact sheet are subject to change.
will house a private collection of sculptural objects and
functional art. The collection is the catalyst for the
redevelopment of Sparta's central business district.
Brownfields redevelopment will attract more than
60,000 visitors a year to Sparta, and spur business and
entrepreneurial opportunities for the development of
new shops, galleries, restaurants, and overnight accom-
modations that will create more than 120 jobs.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-06-084
May 2006
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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