United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-121
April 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Puerto Rico Industrial
Development Company
Outreach and Special Projects Staff (5101)
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. The Pilots 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.
OVERVIEW
EPA has selected the Puerto Rico Industrial
Development Company (PRIDCO) as a Brownfields
Pilot. PRIDCO was legislatively created in 1942 as
a public corporation and government entity to
stimulate the economy of Puerto Rico through job
creation. PRIDCO, which owns approximately 50
percent of the industrially developed property in
Puerto Rico, will administer the grant in cooperation
with the Puerto Rico Economic Development
Administration.
One site, the former Hato Rey Electroplating Site,
has been identified as a target for the pilot. This site
is located in the economically depressed Cantera
community within the municipality of San Juan. It is
now a vacant facility that attracts crime and vagrancy.
Interest in redeveloping the facility as a recycling
center has arisen, but environmental concerns have
prevented redevelopment commitments. Other sites
to be targeted for the pilot will be selected based on
community need and significant redevelopment and
reuse potential.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Atlantic Ocean
Puerto Rico
Date of Award:
April 1997
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: Three sites,
including a former
electroplating facility in the
Cantera community and
two additional areas to be
identified, have been
targeted for the pilot.
Contacts:
Andres Gomez Alayon
Puerto Rico Industrial
Development Company
(787) 767-3984
Ramon Torres
U.S. EPA-Region 2
(787) 977-5840
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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OBJECTIVES
PRIDCO's goal is to develop a prototype for
redevelopment ofbrownfields through public-private
partnerships. These partnerships will be supported
by incentives to overcome the typical rejection from
developers of environmentally impacted properties
and by community outreach and education. PRTDCO
also plans to establish a revolving loan fund that will
enable prospective developers or tenants to assess
potentially impacted properties and determine their
redevelopment potential. Puerto Rico believes the
pilot will facilitate development of an island-wide
brownfields program.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
• Conducting site investigation and remedial planning
at the former electroplating site;
• Conducting site investigations and remedial planning
at two additional sites to be identified;
• Conducting community outreach programs and bi-
lingual educational materials for Hato Rey residents
and other community stakeholders; and
• Developing plans for a revolving loan fund program
intended to encourage site assessment.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact
sheet are subject to change.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company
April 1997 EPA 500-F-97-121
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