&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-01-227
June 2001
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5105)
Brownfields Success Stories
Old Pottery Factory Site Gives
Way to New Development in Trenton
TRENTON, NJ
A
vacant property that for years served as an illegal dumping
ground in inner-city Trenton, New Jersey, is finally being returned to
productive use. Formerly home to the Crane Pottery Factory, the
neglected site had long been an eyesore for residents of the sur-
rounding low-income Trenton neighborhood. Fears of possible con-
tamination were one concern that prevented redevelopment of
the site. To help spark redevelopment efforts at Crane and other
unused industrial sites within the city, EPA awarded Trenton a
$200,000 Brownfields Pilot grant under the Agency's Brownfields
Initiative in September 1995. As a result of the Pilot grant and a
partnership among the city, the community, and a private developer,
the Crane Pottery site has been cleaned up, there are now three
new industrial facilities in operation at the site, with more to come,
and more than $300,000 has been leveraged for assessment, cleanup,
and redevelopment.
In an effort to encourage community interest and involvement in
redevelopment activities throughout Trenton, including in the Crane
site neighborhood, the city partnered with Isles, Inc., a local non-
profit community development corporation. With the assistance of
this company, the Pilot has held community-wide meetings, conducted
monthly meetings with resident-representatives, produced a quar-
terly newsletter entitled Trenton On-Site Insights, posted flyers noti-
continued ^
JUSTTHE FACTS:
• Fears of potential contamination hindered
restoration of the former Crane Pottery
Factory site, which had long been an eyesore
for residents of the surrounding low-income
neighborhood.
• The city partnered with a local nonprofit
community development corporation in an
effort to encourage community interest and
involvement in redevelopment activities.
• A total of 25 jobs have been created as a
result of redevelopment projects on the
former Crane Pottery site, and more are
anticipated.
As a result of the Brownfields Pilot and
a partnership among the city, the
community, and a private developer,
more than $300,000 has been
leveraged for the assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment of several
city brownfields.
ERA'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.
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fying residents of meetings, and developed fact sheets that keep resi-
dents informed of redevelopment activities. Illegal dumping activity at
the site has been nearly eliminated thanks to these and other commu-
nity awareness efforts.
To assess the Crane site, the Trenton Pilot leveraged a $60,409 grant
from the state's Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund pro-
gram. Once areas of contamination were defined, local developer
Jeffery Faigle stepped in and purchased a 1.5-acre parcel of the site,
which was found to have no contamination, from the city for $12,000.
Soon afterward, Mr. Faigle's company began construction of a 10,800-
square-foot, $300,000 candle-making facility on the property. Eight em-
ployees have since been relocated to the new facility.
In the fall of 1997, the company began construction of a second building on another
portion of the Crane site. Brownfields Pilot assessments revealed petroleum hydrocarbon
contamination on one portion of this parcel. The city continues to address groundwater
concerns at the site. The 9,800-square-foot facility that now occupies the space is home to a
fish wholesaling company that brought 14 new jobs to the area. When the city subdivided the
rest of the Crane site to create four additional lots, Faigle's company purchased all of the lots.
One of the lots is now home to Tektite, an underwater light manufacturing facility, and an-
other will soon be the site of an electrical supply distributer. A total of 25 jobs have been
created as a result of the redevelopment projects on the former Crane Pottery site, with more
to come.
Community involvement in Trenton's redevelopment efforts continues to add momentum to
the positive change in how developers view Trenton's brownfields. This has been helped
along by a consortium of public and private sources that has provided funding for redevelop-
ment efforts. In addition, the city has leveraged funding for brownfields throughout the Pilot
area, including more than $260,000 in Urban Enterprise Zone funds, a grant from the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development's Home Ownership Zone fund, and $1
million from the Economic Development Administration for infrastructure improvements. To
learn more about the Trenton Brownfields Pilot, contact Larry D'Andrea at (212) 637-4314.
CONTACTS:
EPA Region 2
(212)637-4314
Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/
Brownfields Success Story
June 2001
Trenton, NJ
EPA 500-F-01-227
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