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Brownfields 2007
Grant Fact Sheet
Lake Charles, LA
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 Lake Charles was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Located along Interstate
10 and two rail lines, Lake Charles (population
71,757) is an important intermodal port city. Like
many American cities, the economy of Lake Charles
changed with the construction of highways, military
base relocations, and population shifts to the suburbs.
The neighborhoods targeted for assessments, the
downtown and Charpentier district and the North Lake
Charles area, are home to about 15 percent of the city's
residents. These are minority communities where
median household incomes are only 59 percent of the
city median, and the poverty rate is nearly 30 percent.
Residents live in proximity to deteriorating buildings
and boarded up commercial and industrial sites.
Brownfields make the riverfront in North Lake Charles
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the City of Lake Charles for a
brownfields assessment grant. Petroleum grant
funds will be used to perform at least four Phase I
environmental site assessments at former oil
terminal properties, an additional 12 Phase I
assessments at former gas stations and automo-
tive repair sites, and from four to seven Phase II
environmental site assessments. Funds also will
be used to extend the existing brownfields
inventory and conduct community outreach.
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 6 Brownfields Team
214-665-6780
http://www.epa.gov/region6/brownfields
Grant Recipient: City of Lake Charles, LA
337-491-1292
The information presented in this fact sheet comes
from the grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. The cooperative
agreement for the grant has not yet been negoti-
ated. Therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
inaccessible to area residents. Assessment of
brownfields will help facilitate revitalization of these
neighborhoods. The city plans to convert the riverfront
into an accessible commercial area and construct new
housing in the downtown area.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-07-092
May 2007
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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