5
             o
                          T>

  Brownfields  2008

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

  Downriver Community

           Conference,

    Wayne and Monroe

           Counties, Ml


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 this 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. Additionally, funding support is
provided to state and tribal response programs through
a separate mechanism.
Community Description
The Downriver Community Conference was selected
to receive a brownfields revolving loan fund grant.
Located in southeast Michigan, the Downriver Com-
munity Conference is focusing its brownfields efforts
on the 11 communities in the Downriver Area
Brownfield Consortium, a sub-entity of the Confer-
ence. These communities (combined population
301,157) are Dearborn, Ecorse, Gibraltar, Grosse lie
Township, Melvindale, Monroe and Port of Monroe,
 Revolving Loan Fund
 Grant
L2008
 $2,000,000 for hazardous substances
 EPA has selected the Downriver Community
 Conference for a brownfields revolving loan fund
 grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolv-
 ing loan fund from which the Downriver Commu-
 nity Conference will provide loans to support
 cleanup activities for sites contaminated with
 hazardous substances. Grant funds also will be
 used to oversee cleanups and support community
 involvement activities. The coalition partners are
 the 11 communities of the Downriver Area
 Brownfield Consortium.
 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 5 Brownfields Team
 312-886-7576
 http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields
 Grant Recipient: Downriver Community
 Conference, MI
 734-362-3477
 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.
Riverview, Romulus, Taylor, Trenton, and Wyandotte.
They have all been home to heavy industry, dominated
by the automobile industry. Following the decline in
those industries, the area experienced increased
unemployment and poverty, and a decrease in popula-
tion. Communities now have a legacy of economically
                                               Solid Waste and
                                               Emergency Response
                                               (5105T)
                       EPA560-F-08-109
                       April 2008
                       www.epa.gov/brownfields

-------
disadvantaged and contaminated areas. There are
more than 400 brownfields in the area that pose risks
to human health and have contaminated watercourses
in the downriver area. When brownfields are cleaned
up through the RLF grant, the Downriver Community
Conference communities intend to include high-density
mixed-use development linked to greenspace in their
reuse plans for the sites.

-------