United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-268
November 1998
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA
Brownfields Showcase
Community
Trenton, NJ
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. This multi-agency partnership has pledged support to 16 "Brownfields Showcase Communities"—models
demonstrating the benefits of collaborative activity on brownfields. The designated 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.
Community Profile
BACKGROUND
The Brownfields National Partnership has selected the
City of Trenton as a Brownfields Showcase Commu-
nity. Although it is the state capital, Trenton is a small,
poor city with concentrated industrial areas and
brownfields interspersed
with residential neighbor-
hoods and commercial cor-
ridors. Trenton's seven
most distressed census
tracts contain only one-third
of the city's population, but
two-thirds of the city's
brownfields target sites.
More than 18% of the resi- ^^ New Jersey
dents live below the federal
poverty line, and the unem-
ployment rate in Trenton (11.8%) is almost double the
state and national rates. Trenton's brownfields prob-
lems include health issues such as infant mortality and
childhood lead poisoning, which are compounded by the
proximity of contaminated sites to minority and low-
income populations. African Americans represent 48%
of the city's population, and Latinos 14%.
Trenton began its brownfields redevelopment strategy
in 1994 after the New Jersey Legislature enacted the
Industrial Sites Recovery Act (ISRA), which offered
flexible cleanup options, as well as financial resources
for brownfields cleanup. The city has identified more
than 65 brownfields sites on approximately 330 acres.
CURRENT ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS
During the past four
years, the city has been
engaged with more
than thirty separate
brownfields sites con-
taining nearly 100
acres. Private and pub-
lic investment to date in
the industrial redevelop-
ment of brownfields
sites exceeds $16 mil-
lion and has preserved or brought into Trenton more
than 1,000 jobs. Highlights of Trenton's brownfields
redevelopment program include:
• Cleaning up and redeveloping seven sites for residential,
commercial or industrial use. Cleanup has been
completed at six other sites that are now in the process
of redevelopment, and is underway at eightmore sites;
and environmental investigations are being undertaken
at eight additional sites;
Trenton targets more than 30 city
brownfields with promising reuse
potential. The city has already
redeveloped or cleaned up more than
30 brownfields, covering nearly 100
acres. One of these properties has
leveraged an estimated $90 million to
create a newshopping center, an
office complex, and more than 400
jobs.
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Completing a 10,000 square-foot factory on 1.5 acres
of the Crane Pottery site, with a second plant under
construction and a third planned;
Ensuring employment of Trenton residents through
the Canal Banks Construction Training Program
and the Trenton Contractors Assistance Program.
One part of the project will bring about mixed-use
development, including new single family homes, a
new shopping center and a health care facility,
wrapped around the restoration of an historic park;
Attracting seven manufacturing or distribution firms
to the Trenton Makes Industrial Park, a modern
industrial park in the heart of the city, in the once-
abandoned 800,000 square-foot former C.V. Hill
Refrigeration facility;
Working with Mercer County and private investors
to redevelop the former Roebling Works, including
converting more than 220,000 square feet of historic
industrial space into a $ 17 million shopping center, a
$ 13 million office complex, and more than 230 rental
units. $5 0 million has been committed for additional
development. More than 400 jobs have been created;
and
Developing the former Cooper Iron Works, located
along the waterfront, into a popular night club,
representing a $3 million investment. Plans are
underway to convert the nearby Champale Brewery
into a mixed-use family entertainment destination.
Total investment for this project is expected to
exceed $ 100 million and should create more than 300
additional jobs over the next three years.
The partnerships that the city has forged with fed-
eral, state and local agencies have been key to the
city's ability to move forward with its brownfields
revitalization strategy. Partnerships include: federal
agencies such as EPA, U.S. Economic Development
Agency and National Park Service; state agencies;
non governmental organizations, including Isles, Inc.
and the United Church of Christ Commission for
Racial Justice; and educational institutions, including
the Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Cen-
ter and Thomas Edison State College.
SHOWCASE COMMUNITY OBJECTIVES AND
PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Since the inception of Trenton's Brownfields Initia-
tive, assessment, cleanup and redevelopment activi-
ties have been focused on the core industrial areas.
After the initial inventory was completed in 1994, it
became clear that there are many contaminated sites
outside industrial areas, including gas stations, former
railroad rights of way, a downtown parking lot, and a
19th century mill that still needed attention. Trenton
plans to use the Showcase Communities project to
continue work already begun in the core industrial
areas and to investigate, assess, clean up and rede-
velop brownfields interspersed in residential areas and
commercial corridors.
Contacts
Department of Housing and
Development
City of Trenton
(609)989-3504
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(212)637-4314
For more information on the Brownfields Showcase Communities,
visit the EPA Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/showcase.htm
Brownfields Showcase Community
November 1998
Trenton, New Jersey
EPA 500-F-98-268
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