United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-033
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Rome, NY
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
EPA's Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative is designed to empower States, communities, and other
stakeholders in economic redevelopment to work together in a timely manner to prevent, assess, safely clean up, and
sustainably reuse brownfields. A brownfield is a site, or portion thereof, that has actual or perceived contamination and
an active potential for redevelopment or reuse. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots are intended to provide EPA, States, Tribes, municipalities,
and communities with useful information and strategies as they continue to seek new methods to promote a unified
approach to site assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelopment.
BACKGROUND
EPA selected the City of Rome for a Brownfields
Pilot. The project area is a 17-acre brownfield in the
200-acre Rome industrial area, which is adjacent to
the central business district and in a State Economic
Development Zone. The initial site assessment indi-
cated the potential for redevelopment independent of
subsurface and groundwater remediation, if contact
with these media is prevented.
About 25 percent of the residents in the area sur-
rounding the business district live below the poverty
line, and 11 percent are unemployed, almost double
the City's overall rate. The preliminary environmen-
tal site assessment of the industrial area found lead
contamination in soils and chlorinated solvent con-
tamination in groundwater. Additional contamina-
tion is suspected from previous pickling, lead work-
ing, metal plating, printing, and machining opera-
tions.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of Rome's brownfields effort is to
redevelop the 200-acre industrial area into a light
industrial park. The City is working to implement a
coordinated approach that solicits the involvement of
the 18 property owners in the industrial park to work
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Rome, New York
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets a 17-acre business
park adjacent to Rome's
central business district
that is contaminated from
former metal plating,
pickling, printing, and
machine operations.
Contacts:
Brian Thomas
City of Rome, Department
of Planning and
Community Development
(315)339-7792
Cplanner@aol.com
Daisy Mather
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4357
mather.daisy@
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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together on complementary environmental and eco-
nomic goals. Environmental investigation technolo-
gies developed at the Department of Defense' s Rome
Laboratories will be used in the assessment of the
demonstration site. Community involvement and a
program to facilitate replication of the program are
integral to the project's objectives.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Completed aPhase I site assessment, which included
a visual inspection, and sampling. This assessment
also confirmed that there is some contamination
present at the site, including surface soils that have
been impacted by metals from the long history of
wire and metal ware production.
The Pilot is:
• Conducting further environmental site assessments
and updating a redevelopment plan for the site with
assessment information;
• Establishing legal mechanisms, such as letters of
intent, to follow up with property owners and
regulators;
• Using the Brownfields Task Force to produce a
community newsletter, create public forums, and
inform and involve the adjacent neighborhoods;
and
• Recording and documenting the process for
replication at other brownfields sites.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Rome Pilot has been a catalyst
for related activities including the following.
• Buildings on the site have been demolished as part
of the redevelopment effort.
• A risk assessment investigation of the redevelop-
ment area will be developed based on the findings
from the Pilot. It will be aided by an agreement
between the City of Rome, EPA, the New York
State Technology Enterprise Corporation
(NYSTEC), and Rome Laboratories. Through a
Cooperative Research and Development Agree-
ment, the City and EPA will have access to new,
innovative, and cost-saving tools for assessing sub-
surface conditions, while at the same time providing
the Laboratories and NYSTEC with a test bed for
new tools and techniques.
The Brownfields Task Force has developed a
preliminary redevelopment plan for the site. The
plan includes the construction of anew access road
and subdivision of the site into smaller parcels for
individual manufacturers/light industrial following
a comprehensive demolition program. These smaller
parcels have the potential for employing up to 50
employees, increasing manufacturing employment
for the City.
One business adjacent to the business park site has
announced plans to expand from their property into
the project site. Another local business has plans to
expand their facilities within the business park.
Additional parcels of the business park will soon be
made available. Past redevelopment projects that
had been attempted at this site have been reviewed
to determine possible reasons for their failure.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot
May 1997
Rome, New York
EPA 500-F-97-033
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