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Brownfields 2008
Grant Fact Sheet
Urban Edge Housing
Corporation, Roxbury,
MA
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 Urban Edge Housing Corporation was selected to
receive a brownfields cleanup grant. Urban Edge will
clean up a site in Jackson Square, an urban area that
lies at the intersection of the Roxbury (population
23,823) and Jamaica Plains neighborhoods of Boston.
The site is in a federally designated Empowerment
Zone. Twenty-four percent of area families live below
the poverty level, and the local unemployment rate is
7.5 percent. Sixty-three percent of residents are
African-American and 25 percent are Hispanic. Once
the site is cleaned up, it will be redeveloped with
Cleanup Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the Urban Edge Housing Corpo-
ration for a brownfields cleanup grant. Hazardous
substances grant funds will be used to clean up a
three-quarter-acre parcel at 1542-1542A Columbus
Avenue in Roxbury. The site is contaminated
primarily with metals. Grant funds will be used to
excavate up to 1,400 cubic yards of soil, transport
and dispose of soil, and support community involve-
ment 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 1 Brownfields Team
617-918-1424
http://www.epa.gov/regionl/brownfields
Grant Recipient: Urban Edge Housing
Corporation, MA
617-989-9313
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.
affordable housing and retail and office space. This
redevelopment is expected to create an estimated 47
permanent jobs and generate an estimated $50,000 in
new property taxes annually. Cleanup and redevelop-
ment of the Columbus Avenue parcel are a key part of
the Jackson Square development, which is expected to
create construction and permanent jobs, and generate
more than $ 1 million in property taxes annually.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-08-021
April 2008
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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