United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-141
April 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Santa Barbara County, CA
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 Santa Barbara County as a
Brownfields Pilot. The Goleta Old Town area has
served as an economic, social, and cultural focal
point of the Goleta Valley since the early 1900s.
During the 1950s and 1960s, military, industrial, and
commercial businesses expanded in Old Town. Since
thattime, however, Goleta Old Town has experienced
significant economic decline in the commercial,
industrial, and residential sectors of the community.
To a large degree, economic redevelopment has been
impeded by known and suspected environmental
contamination.
The pilot area of Goleta Old Town has a population
of approximately 5,000, 44 percent of whom are
minority and 12 percent of whom live below the
poverty level. Old Town developed a revitalization
plan through joint public-private efforts holding more
than 25 community meetings. Based on historic and
current land uses, the county has identified
approximately 50 potential brownfields sites.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award:
April 1997
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The pilot will
target residential and
mixed-use properties with
known and suspected
contamination in the
Goleta Old Town area.
Santa Barbara County,
California
Contacts:
Daniel Gira
County Planning and
Development
(805) 568-2068
Steve Simanonok
U.S. EPA-Region 9
(415)744-2358
simanonok.steve@
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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OBJECTIVES
Santa Barbara County's goal is to restore the Old
Town area as an economically vital social and cultural
focus of the Goleta Valley community. Objectives
include the creation of effective development
partnerships; implementation of sustainable land uses;
and encouragement of diverse commerce and business.
ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this pilot include:
• Developing cost-effective plans for site assessment,
characterization, and future plans for cleanup
strategies through a private/public team approach;
• Conducting preliminary and detailed target site
assessments, including data compilation, technical
interpretations, sampling, drilling, geophysical
surveying, hydrogeological testing, and health and
safety reviews;
• Determining funding sources and mechanisms for
financing future cleanups and revitalization;
• Coordinating the revitalization interests of residents,
property owners, businesses, lenders, educational
institutions, governments, and other stakeholders;
and
• Documenting remediation strategies, revitalization
strategies, andpilotprogress, including measures of
success.
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 Santa Barbara County, California
April 1997 EPA 500-F-97-141
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