United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-120
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SEPA
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Watertown, NY
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower states, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs are intended to provide EPA, states,
tribes, municipalities, and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods
to promote a unified approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Watertown for a
Brownfields Pilot. Watertown (population 30,000) is
located in upstate New York approximately 70 miles
from Syracuse, and is the only city in Jefferson
County. The city is situated on the Black River near
the juncture between Lake Ontario and the St.
Lawrence River, and is the gateway to several
recreational areas. Historically home to paper mills
and food processing facilities, during the past 40 years
business closings and downsizing have resulted in a
loss of j obs that left the county with an unemployment
rate 1.2 times the national average, as well as a 12
percent population decline. These facility closings
have also left a number of brownfields within the city,
all of which are located within economically depressed
neighborhoods.
The Pilot targets the Black-Clawson site, an abandoned
foundry facility on an island in the Black River that
serves as a gateway to the city's commercial center.
The site is located in one of the city's most distressed
areas, which has a 40 percent poverty rate.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Watertown, New York
Dateof Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
the Black-Clawson site, a
former foundry located on an
island in the Black River.
Contacts:
City of Watertown Regional Brownfields Team
Jefferson County Job Development U.S. EPA - Region 2
Corporation (212)637-4314
(315)782-5865
Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot has two primary objectives. First, the Pilot
will assess the targeted site to address perceived
environmental barriers to the commercial and
recreational redevelopment of the site, allowing the
city to link the island with the downtown commercial
center. Second, the Pilot will use the site assessment
to help create sustainable policies, procedures, and
infrastructure for other brownfields cleanup and
redevelopment within the community. By developing
a brownfields redevelopment process, the city hopes
to reuse other underused or abandoned sites to reverse
urban blight and reduce development of agricultural
land outside the city. Watertown will use an expert
task force as well as significant community interaction
to define this process throughout and beyond the term
of the Pilot.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Compiling an inventory of brownfields within the
city;
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental
assessments of the Black-Clawson site;
• Developing a cleanup plan for the targeted site;
• Designing a brownfields redevelopment guide to
serve as an example for future redevelopment
projects; and
• Convening a community advisory group of local
residents, developers, community organization
representatives, and other stakeholders to participate
in the Pilot's processes.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Watertown, New York
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-120
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