United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-00-043
April 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
v>EPA Brownfields Supplemental
Assistance
Saginaw, Ml
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
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 brownfields to facilitate cleanup of brownfields sites and prepare trainees for future employment in the environmental
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 awarded the City of Saginaw supplemental
assistance for its Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot and additional funding for
assessments at brownfields properties to be used for
greenspace purposes. Saginaw (population 69,512) is
located approximately 100 miles north of Detroit. The
city is situated at thenorth end ofMichigan's industrial
corridor and near the gateway to the state's
recreational areas. Principle employment is automotive
manufacturing, medicine, education, and agriculture.
In the past, lumber, oil, and coal industries have been
large employers for the region. Saginaw's 31.7 percent
poverty level is among the highest in the nation, and
the unemployment rate is 9.75 percent.
The city has hundreds of idle and abandoned former
industrial and manufacturing sites. During the lastSO
years, more than 800 abandoned properties in the
central business district have reverted to city or state
ownership. Uncertainty about the existence of
environmental contamination has hindered
redevelopment. The original Pilottargetedcity-, state-
and privately owned commercial and industrial
properties located within or adjacent to the state-
designated Renaissance Zone and on the city's
riverfront. The supplemental assistance will expand
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Saginaw, Michigan
Date of Announcement:
March 2000
Amount: $150,000
Greenspace: $50,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
approximately 12 brownfields
located within the boundaries
of Saginaw's Brownfield
Redevelopment Authority and
a 28-acre abandoned marsh
area in the central city for
greenspaceactivities.
Contacts:
City of Saginaw
(517)759-1550
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA - Region 5
(312)886-1960
Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/
Forfutther information, including specific Pilotcontacts,
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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to target several priority brownfields located anywhere
within the city, including properties within the
Renaissance Zone, adjacent to the Zone, along the
riverfront, or within the boundaries of the city's
Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.
OBJECTIVES AND PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Saginaw's primary objective is to increase
redevelopment and create jobs in the target areas by
encouraging private and public investment. The goal
of the supplemental assistance is to use the brownfields
systems and infrastructure in place as a result of the
initial Pilot efforts to maximize cleanup and
redevelopment opportunities within the boundaries of
the city's Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. In
conjunction with the city's riverfront development
plans and in partnership with the Saginaw public
school system and several non-profit entities, the city
is developing a plan to use greenspace funding to
create urban wetlands within the central city in a 28-
acre abandoned marsh area. The additional funding
for assessment will help facilitate restoration of this
habitat.
To accomplish these objectives, the Pilot plans to:
• Select priority brownfields among those inventoried
within the city limits;
• Conduct approximately 12 Phase I environmental
assessments;
• Conduct approximately 10 Phase n environmental
assessments;
• Conduct approximately eight Baseline Environmental
Assessments (BEAs) to State of Michigan
specifications, providing liability protection to new
owners and operators;
• Perform Phase I and n assessments and BEAs to
facilitate restoration of the wetland area; and
• Continue to give outreach presentations, solicit input,
and focus on community involvement in cleanup and
redevelopment issues at the targeted properties.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been negotiated;
therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change.
Brownfields Supplemental Assistance Saginaw, Michigan
March 2000 EPA 500-F-00-043
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