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  Brownfields  2006

  Grant Fact  Sheet

       Tacoma-Pierce

        County  Health

     Department,  WA


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 Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
Located in Pierce County (population 745,411), the
City of Tacoma is a federally designated Renewal
Community. The area targeted for brownfields assess-
ments includes 88  percent of the area's 736 former gas
station brownfields. Centered roughly in south central
Tacoma, this area includes about 32 percent of the
county's population, of whom 41 percent are minori-
ties. The unemployment rates for Pierce County and
the City of Tacoma are above the state and national
  Assessment Grant
  $200,000 for petroleum

  EPA has selected the Tacoma-Pierce County
  Health Department for a brownfields assessment
  grant. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
  perform from six to 15 Phase I and II environmen-
  tal site assessments, and conduct community
  outreach and education. Grant funds will focus on
  the elimination of hazards from former gas
  stations.
  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 10 Brownfields Team
  206-553-2100
  http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/
  sites/bf

  Grant Recipient: Tacoma-Pierce County Health
  Department, WA
  253-798-4784

  The cooperative agreement for this grant has not
  yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described
  in this fact sheet are subject to change.
averages, and poverty rates range from 9.8 to 14.8
percent. Tank removal or site cleanup documentation for
these sites does not exist, so the health and environmen-
tal risks posed by these sites are unknown. Potential
contamination at these former gas station sites also
makes them unattractive for redevelopment. Brown-
fields assessments, eventual cleanup, and redevelop-
ment will assist the community's effort to reduce
environmental uncertainties surrounding these former
gas stations, focus on building a commitment to green
construction and energy efficiency, and promote a
vibrant community through further redevelopment of
underutilized commercial properties.
                                                Solid Waste and
                                                Emergency Response
                                                (5105T)
                         EPA 560-F-06-206
                         May 2006
                         www.epa.gov/brownfields

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