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  Brownfields  2008

  Grant  Fact Sheet

     New  Bedford,  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 City of New Bedford was selected to receive two
brownfields assessment grants. With a population of
93,768, New Bedford is the seventh largest city in
Massachusetts and one of the most diverse. Roughly
half of the population is Portuguese or of Portuguese
descent, and a significant percentage of the city's
residents are minorities.  The city's average per capita
income of $15,602 is well below both national and state
averages. More than 17 percent of families live below
the poverty level. New Bedford also has chronically
high unemployment rates. Assessments conducted
through these grants will help the city identify issues
that could potentially impact public health and the
environment, and allow the city to appropriately
manage the risk. The city also will be in a better
 Assessment Grants
 $200,000 for hazardous substances
 $200,000 for petroleum

 EPA has selected the City of New Bedford for two
 brownfields assessment grants. Hazardous sub-
 stances grant funds will be used to conduct a
 minimum of seven Phase I and Phase II environ-
 mental site assessments. Petroleum grant funds
 will be used to conduct a minimum of eight Phase I
 and Phase II environmental site assessments.
 Grant funds also will be used to support community
 outreach 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: City of New Bedford, MA
 508-979-1487

 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.
position to identify sites for cleanup and redevelop-
ment.
                                                 Solid Waste and
                                                 Emergency Response
                                                 (5105T)
                        EPA560-F-08-015
                        April 2008
                        www.epa.gov/brownfields

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