5
              o
                            T>

  Brownfields  2008

  Grant  Fact  Sheet

     Grand Rapids,  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 City of Grand Rapids was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. Located in western
Michigan, Grand Rapids (population 193,083) is the
second largest city in the state. Though the city's
industrial sector experienced rapid growth during the
mid-19th and early 20th Centuries, industry began to
decline in the 1970s. Within the last decade, 15,000 jobs
have been lost, and the unemployment rate has climbed
to 9.2 percent. About 23 percent of the population lives
in poverty. This economic downturn has left behind
numerous abandoned and uncharacterized brownfields,
concentrated in neighborhoods with many low-income
and minority residents. The city plans to use hazardous
substances grant funds to assess brownfields in these
neighborhoods, and to focus use of petroleum grant
funds on sites in the  GrandWalk project area, a pre-
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the City of Grand Rapids for two
 brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to conduct 10
 Phase I and six Phase II environmental site
 assessments. Petroleum grant funds will be used to
 conduct up to 15  Phase I and 10 Phase II environ-
 mental site assessments. Grant funds also will be
 used to support community outreach activities.
 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: City of Grand Rapids, MI
 616-456-3431 (hazardous substances)
 616-456-3681 (petroleum)

 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.
dominately industrial and commercial area in the
northwest portion of the city. Brownfields assessments
will help identify environmental threats and are ex-
pected to help the city promote redevelopment.
                                                  Solid Waste and
                                                  Emergency Response
                                                  (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-08-111
                        April 2008
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

-------