United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5105)
EPA500-F-00-218
October 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
oEPA Brownfields Showcase
Community
New Bedford, MA
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial properties where expansion or redevelopment is
complicated by real or perceived contamination. In May 1997, Vice President Gore announced a Brownfields National Partnership
to bring together the resources of more than 15 federal agencies to address local cleanup and reuse issues in a more coordinated
manner. In 1998, this multi-agency partnership designated 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"—models demonstrating
the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. In October 2000, the partnership selected 12 additional "Brownfields
Showcase Communities" to continue the success of the initiative. The Brownfields Showcase Communities are distributed
across the country and vary by size, resources, and community type. A wide range of support will be leveraged, depending on
the particular needs of each Showcase Community.
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected
New Bedford, Massachusetts, as a Brownfields
Showcase Community. The fourth largest city in
Massachusetts (population 99,982), New Bedford is
located on the Atlantic Ocean and has a rich history
of whaling, cotton and textile manufacturing, and
fishing. Over the years, these industries made the
city an attractive destination for immigrants such as
the Portuguese, who today make up more than half of
the population.
Like many New
England cities, New
Bedford's legacy of
fishing and manufac-
turing has suffered
over the past few
decades. New
Bedford has lost more
than 11,000 manufac-
turing jobs, and more
than 16 percent of the
Community Profile
New Bedford, Massachusetts
fisherman have lost their jobs. The city has high
unemployment (12 percent) and poverty (20 percent)
rates. In 1995, the city was identified by a U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) report as being "doubly burdened" by popula-
tion loss and high poverty rates, and the state has
designated New Bedford as an "economically dis-
tressed area." Realizing that tourism, coupled with
these struggling industries, could help revitalize the
city's economy and improve the quality of life for its
residents, the city established a brownfields program
in 1998 and has under-
taken environmental
assessments at 15
properties. A whaling
museum and historic park
recently opened, and
three separate master
plans for the city are
underway or in develop-
ment.
Since the 1970s, the City of New
Bedford's traditional economic bases
of fishing and clothing manufacturing
have been hard hit by international
competition. The city has identified
more than 30 brownfields sites, and
Showcase Community designation will
bring additional resources and
expertise toward assessing these sites
and carrying out the master plans.
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CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
In the past three years, the city has come together to
reverse this trend of job loss and poverty and is
using brownfields redevelopment as its rallying
point. In 1998, the city and the New Bedford
Economic Development Council (NBEDC) estab-
lished a task force to provide guidance to its new
Brownfields Program and began by inventorying
the city's sites. In all, 31 sites were identified, all in
varying stages of contamination and cleanup. The
city and NBEDC work together to determine how to
initiate and foster economic and job development in
New Bedford. Their goal is to encourage the
private sector to take the lead in economic develop-
ment with the support of city government. Efforts
related to that goal include:
• Obtaining an $800,000 grant to demolish and
clean up one of the city's brownfields sites, the
Talleyrand site, and enticing Aerovox Industries
to construct a $9 million facility on the site,
creating 400 new jobs;
• Coordinating an effort to identify other
brownfields sites within the city (to date 14
have been assessed or have assessments
underway);
• Redeveloping the former Standard Times field
into a 10-lot subdivision, which includes a
business incubator for technology startups;
• Helping to secure and redevelop the former Star
Store site for the University of Massachusetts;
and
• Creating 3,700 new jobs.
New Bedford has formed partnerships with federal,
state, and local entities to address brownfields.
Partnerships include:
• EPA, which awarded New Bedford a Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot, a Revolving
Loan Fund Pilot, a Job Training Pilot, a
Brownfields Alternative Dispute Resolution Pilot,
and two Targeted Brownfields Assessments;
• U.S. Department of Commerce-Economic
Development Administration (EDA) and HUD,
which are providing a $1 million grant and
$250,000, respectively, to redevelop the former
Standard Times Building into a business
incubator for high tech businesses;
• U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)/
Federal Highway Administration, which has
committed $12 million to restore or provide new
access to land adjacent to the waterfront (DOT
has also made grants of more than $3 million to
build a new freight ferry terminal on the harbor);
• U.S. Department of Interior (DOI)-National Park
Service, which has provided a home for the New
Bedford National Historic Whaling Museum in
the center of the New Bedford National Historic
Park and has spurred an $11 million capital
campaign with the city; and
• Massachusetts Department of Housing and
Community Development, which has provided
three grants to local brownfields sites: an
$800,000 Community Development Action Grant
for demolition and cleanup at the Talleyrand site;
a $700,000 grant for demolition which facilitated
cleanup at the Morse Cutting Tools site; and a
$425,000 grant for demolition at two additional
brownfields.
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
NewBedford, Massachusetts
EPA 500-F-00-218
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SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
New Bedford plans to use the Showcase Community
designation to continue to combine three critical
elements necessary for a successful brownfields
program—community need, a record of accomplish-
ment, and a spirit of partnership. The city has
recently established three new master plans aimed at
economic development, job creation, open space
protection, recreation enhancement, and increased
environmental protection. The Showcase Commu-
nity designation will bring much needed resources to
bear toward the fulfillment of these plans. The city
will serve as a model to other cities who are "doubly
burdened" by population loss and high poverty and
to cities with traditional water resource-based
economies.
Contacts
City of New Bedford
(508)979-1487
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)918-1424
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase
Communities, visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm.
Brownfields Showcase Communities
October 2000
NewBedford, Massachusetts
EPA 500-F-00-218
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