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Brownfields 2007
Grant Fact Sheet
Woonasquatucket
Valley Community
Build, Providence, Rl
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
Woonasquatucket Valley Community Build (WVCB)
was selected to receive two brownfields cleanup
grants. Manufacturing, rich natural resources, and a
geographically strategic location fueled Providence's
(population 173,618) growth. The WVCB is located in
the Industrial Valley District of Providence, an area at
the convergence of five of the city's poorest districts.
The sites targeted for cleanup are in a federally
designated Enterprise Community. The percentage of
families who live below the poverty level in the
neighborhoods served by the WVCB ranges from 26 to
Cleanup Grants
$400,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected Woonasquatucket Valley
Community Build for two brownfields cleanup
grants. Grant funds will be used to clean up
Providence Steel and Iron, Lots 2 and 3, at 27
Sims Avenue. The company was an iron works
for almost a century and also has been used as an
office building, bar shop, and brewing company.
Funds will be used to cap all site soils.
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 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1424
http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/
Grant Recipient: Woonasquatucket Valley
Community Build, RI
401-273-7101
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.
41 percent. Unemployment rates are up to seven
percent higher than the city's unemployment rate.
Abandoned and contaminated industrial lots and old
housing stock characterize these neighborhoods.
Cleanup of the Providence Steel and Iron property will
reduce blight and threats to human health and the
environment. When the sites are cleaned up, they will
be reused for a planned greenspace amphitheater and
lawn that will be available to the public for markets,
community meetings, art and cultural festivals, and
environmental education programming.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA560-F-07-195
May 2007
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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