LAND REVITALIZATION FACT SHEET
REVITALIZATION IN
AUTO SECTOR COMMUNITI
In response to the severe economic
impacts of the General Motors (GM)
Corporation and Chrysler Corporation
bankruptcies, the White House established
an Auto Sector Community Recovery
Initiative to bring targeted government
resources to the industries, communities,
and states impacted. EPA, the Depart-
ments of Labor, Energy, Transportation,
Housing and Urban Development, and
other federal agencies are investing re-
sources in the recovery effort. EPA is work-
ing with its federal partners, states, local
governments, and the bankrupt corpora-
tions to assess and quantify environmental
conditions, define liabilities, and identify
potential cleanup and reuse options for
former auto industry properties.
With nearly 80 percent of the former GM
and Chrysler sites located in the states of
Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, EPA Re-
gion 5 is leading the way in planning for
the cleanup and revitalization of these
properties. EPA also is assisting communi-
ties in other parts of the country where
abandoned auto dealerships and other
properties are left vacant in the wake
of the auto sector bankruptcies. In the
case of many of the former GM proper-
ties, the federal government provided
NEW ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
EPAs land revitalization initiatives are producing significant environmental benefits
and helping to transform communities into more sustainable and livable places.
The strategy of encouraging market-driven redevelopment of brownfields and
other contaminated sites for economic reuse is proving to be a successful
approach at many sites. However, challenging real estate markets and economic
realities can leave some formerly contaminated properties unused, possibly for
a long time. New approaches are needed to revitalize these sites and protect
human health and the environment.
EPAs Land Revitalization Team is working with communities, states, other EPA pro-
grams, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector to de-
velop and test new approaches that recognize valuable reuses of properties. The
2009 GM and Chrysler bankruptcies added more than 8,700 acres and 60 million
square feet of vacant commercial/industrial property to the nation's brownfield and
vacant property inventories. EPA is working closely with communities impacted by
the downturn in the auto manufacturing sector to address the economic and envi-
ronmental challenges these properties represent to these communities.
Unlocking the potential value of these underused properties often requires
creativity and close collaboration with many public and private partners. The
revitalization of former manufacturing facilities can help stabilize communities
and spur economic development.
for the ownership of the properties to be
transferred to an Environmental Response
Trust. The Trust will receive some federal
funding to address environmental condi-
tions at these former GM properties. EPA
will work closely with the Trustee in charge
of the trust and with the affected com-
munities to clean up these properties
and plan for their reuse.
DAYTON TRANSFORMS FORMER GM PLANT INTO NEW TECH TOWN AEROSPACE HUB
EPA Region 5 is working with the City
of Dayton and the State of Ohio to
address environmental challenges and
regulatory barriers to the cleanup
and reuse of the former GM Harrison
Plant. The property is located just
east of downtown Dayton. With EPAs
assistance, and funding and as-
sistance from the State of Ohio, the
City of Dayton is well on its way to
realizing its vision for the site—turn-
ing the 30-acre former auto radia-
tor plant into Tech Town, an urban
technology campus.
Tech Town is the centerpiece of Day-
ton's new Aerospace Hub of Innovation
& Opportunity—a state designation
that targets aerospace and advanced
materials technologies companies
within the hub for state regulatory, fund-
ing, and technical assistance. The Tech
Town business park is expected to with
more than a dozen buildings encom-
passing up to 400,000 square feet of
office and manufacturing space and
support 2,500 jobs.
The cleanup and redevelopment of
this property presents environmental
challenges, in part because of compli-
cated regulatory issues related to the
cleanup of contamination at the site.
Old GM, the primary party responsible
for contamination at the property,
ceased all remedial activity at the
property when it filed for bankruptcy.
GM was conducting corrective action
and closure activities under the federal
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA) at the time of its bankruptcy.
To ensure the availability of state
funding for the property and facilitate
state oversight of the cleanup of the
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property, EPA Region 5 deferred its
regulatory oversight of the Tech Town
property to Ohio's Voluntary Action
Program. One important result of
this action is that the City of Dayton
now can use Clean Ohio Fund mon-
ies to address contamination at the
property. This action also facilitated
the growing partnership between the
state regulatory program and the City
of Dayton as they work in tandem to
revitalize this important property.
In addition to the regulatory flex-
ibility provided to the City of Dayton,
EPA's Office of Brownfields and Land
Revitalization provided Dayton with
$200,000 of Targeted Brownfields As-
sessment (TBA) assistance to conduct
environmental assessment activities
at the property. The City of Dayton
used this assistance for site charac-
terization and assessment activities,
as well as remedial planning activities
at the property.
Dayton's Tech Town redevelopment got
a significant boost in December 2010,
when the State of Ohio and the fed-
eral government reached a settlement
agreement with the former General
Motors Corporation, now named Motors
Liquidation Corporation, or MLC. Under
the terms of the settlement agreement,
MLC will provide more than $5.3 million
for cleanup efforts at the Tech Town site,
which includes the land once occupied
by the GM Harrison Radiator plant. These
cleanup dollars will go to the State of
Ohio to assist the City of Dayton in con-
ducting cleanup activities at the site.
This money is in addition to $39 million in
cleanup funds that MLC and the federal
government announced for Ohio in
October 2010 under the bankruptcy reor-
Illustration of proposed Dayton
Tech Town.
ganization and settlement agreements
with MLC. The settlement agreements
are part of a liquidation plan filed by
MLC. That plan and the settlement
agreements must be approved by the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York. Court approval of
the liquidation plan is expected in the
first half of 2011.
TEXAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPS VISION FOR REVITALIZATION OF
Once a sign of a thriving economy,
local automobile dealerships in many
communities closed following the GM
and Chrysler bankruptcies. As a result,
many highly visible and centrally
located properties are left vacant.
Many of these properties may pose
environmental, as well as economic,
challenges for the communities where
they are located.
With funding from EPA's Office of
Brownfields and Land Revitalization,
EPA Region 6 is implementing a pilot
program to assist the City of Leon
Valley, Texas, plan for the sustainable
redevelopment of several abandoned
automobile dealerships. Most of the
former dealerships may be contami-
nated and have underground stor-
MORE INFORMATION:
ABANDONED AUTO DEALERSHIPS
age tanks. Likely contaminants include k
solvents, heavy metals, petroleum, or f
asbestos-containing materials. These
properties will require assessment and
may need remediation before they can
be reused for other purposes.
Working together with the local govern- r
ments, regional councils of governments, s
and the Texas Commission on Environ- «
mental Quality, EPA Region 6 is helping
the residents of Leon Valley identify and
develop sustainable redevelopment
models for these.
c
EPA is providing assistance for a series of c
community planning charrettes. A com- c
munity planning charrette is a collabora- r
five design workshop that actively involves c
stakeholders groups—including residents, c
government officials, developers, and
businesses—in developing a vision for
future use of a property or area.
This pilot program enables the commu-
nity to be an active partner and work
with economic developers, former
dealership owners, planners, environ-
mental groups, and others to develop
sustainable redevelopment models for
each former dealership.
EPA also will help the community lever-
age resources to assist with assess-
ment and cleanup of the abandoned
auto dealership sites. Once the auto
dealership properties are assessed and
cleaned up, these communities can
move forward with the implementation
of a community revitalization vision
and economic recovery.
Visit EPA Region 5's Brownfields web site for information about the Regional Auto Sector Recovery Workgroup, at http://www.epa.gov/
regionSbrownfields/
Visit EPA's Land Revitalization program website at http://www.epa.gov/landrevitalization/
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Off ice of Sol id Waste and
Emergency Response
(5105T)
EPA 560-F-11-004
April 2011
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
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