United States
                      Environmental
                      Protection Agency
                      Washington, D.C. 20460
                         Solid Waste
                         and Emergency
                         Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-131
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
  SEPA
Brownfields  Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                                         Covington,  KY
 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. EPA is funding: assessment demonstration pilot programs (each funded
up to $200,000 over two years), to assess brownfields sites and to test cleanup and redevelopment models;job training
pilot programs (each funded up to $200,000 over two years), to provide training for residents of communities affected
by brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
field; and, cleanup revolving loan fund programs (each funded up to $500,000 over five years) to capitalize loan funds
to make loans for the environmental cleanup of brownfields. These pilot programs 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 has selected the  City of Covington for  a
Brownfields  Pilot.   Covington  (population
approximately 43,000) is a landlocked community
located between the Ohio and Licking Rivers. The
city is also bisected by anorth-south interstate highway
and two railroads. Due to its riverfront location and
access to major transportation routes, it was once a
bustling city of industry. The area targeted by the
Pilot is the city's Enterprise Zone (population 30,954),
a 9.5-square-mile  area comprising downtown
Covington. Unemployment in the area is 9.5 percent,
and approximately 15 percent of the population lives
in poverty.

Once the developable land in Covington was consumed,
industries and factories had no opportunities to expand
their operations.  Companies were forced to merge
with larger firms or  relocate to the suburbs.
Additionally, to protect residents, the city adopted a
zoning code in 1930 that required industrial properties
to "down-size" near residential neighborhoods. The
combination of these two situations created a flight to
the suburbs by both industry and the residents who
could afford to relocate. Covington  was left with
deteriorating,  vacant and potentially  contaminated
properties, and  the remaining, mostly minority
                         PILOTSNAPSHOT
                           Covington, Kentucky
                         Contacts:
                         Department of
                         Economic Development
                         (606)292-2163
                                               Dateof Announcement:
                                               June 1999

                                               Amount: $200,000

                                               Profile:  The Pilot targets
                                               five sites in Covington's
                                               Enterprise Zone, located on
                                               the Ohio and Licking Rivers.
 Regional Brownfields Team
 U.S. EPA - Region 4
 (404) 562-8661
                             Visit the EPA Region 4 Brownfields web site at:
                          http://www.epa.gov/region4/wastepgs/brownfpgs/bf.htm

                           For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
                         additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and
                         publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
                                 http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/


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population experienced increasing unemployment and
poverty.

OBJECTIVES

For several years, Covington has been working with
neighborhood associations and citizen groups  to
identify specific brownfields sites of concern and
potential actions to address these sites' environmental
issues as part of a city-wide revitalization effort. This
led to the creation of the city's Brownfields Technical
Committee, which comprises community stakeholders,
business owners, lending  institutions,  real estate
brokers,  developers,  lawyers,  educators,  and
government officials. This committee identified five
priority sites for the Pilot to target because they are
blighted properties  in need of attention;  they are
almost all  city owned; and they  can serve as models
for brownfields cleanup and redevelopment.  The
city's obj ective is to clean up and redevelop these sites
to create jobs, increase  the tax base, and decrease
neighborhood blight and potential health hazards. The
city will rely on the Pilot, local incentive programs, and
private investment to assess, clean up and redevelop
these sites.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES

Activities  planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Continuing the community  involvement program
  already in place by holding public meetings, preparing
  a summary report,  and engaging stakeholders in the
  process;

• Inventorying brownfields sites in the target area and
  using geographical information system (GIS)
  mapping;

• Conducting Phase I and, where necessary, Phase II
  assessments at the targeted sites; and

• Developing site cleanup  and redevelopment plans
  for the targeted sites.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
 Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot                                               Covington, Kentucky
 June 1999                                                                          EPA500-F-99-131

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