United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105)
EPA 500-F-00-261
December 2000
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
&EPA Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Cape Charles-Northampton County, VA
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 selected the Town of Cape Charles for a
Brownfields Pilot. Cape Charles is located at the
southern tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore on a narrow
strip of land between the Chesapeake Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean. The area boasts rich farmlands,
productive waters, vastwetlands,andmilesofunspoiled
coastline. Twenty-seven percent of the 13,000people
in the area, 47 percent of whom are of African-
American heritage, live below the poverty level.
The President's Council on Sustainable Development
selected Cape Charles as one of four sites for a
national eco-industrial park demonstration project,
the Cape Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial
Park (STIP), which will demonstrate advanced
facilities in resource efficiency and pollution
prevention. A 15 5-acre portion of this eco-industrial
parkisaredevelopmentareasurrounding Cape Charles
Harbor on the Chesapeake Bay. The site includes a
former municipal dump, dockside, railyard, and the
remains of abandoned industrial operations. The site
may contain hazardous substances thatthreaten public
health and the marine environment and must be
addressed before the eco-industrial park can be
developed.
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Cape Charles-
Northampton County, VA
Date of Announcement:
September 1995
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets a
155-acre former dump and
railyard site located on a
narrow strip of land between
the Chesapeake Bay and the
Atlantic Ocean.
Contacts:
Northampton County Department
of Sustainable Economic
Development
(757)331-1998
U.S. EPA - Region 3
(215)814-3132
Visit the EPA Region 3 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/brownfld/hmpage1.htm
For further information, including specific Pilot contacts,
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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OBJECTIVES
The Pilot is working to facilitate the development of
the Port of Cape Charles STIP as a means of creating
sustainable economic development while protecting
the community's unique natural, cultural, and historic
resources. Specifically, the Pilot is assessing the
extent of contamination on the 15 5 -acre former dump
and railyard site and designing acleanup strategy that
will enable the development of the eco-industrial park
to progress. Once the project is completed, the
redeveloped brownfields will include the eco-industrial
park, restored wetlands, a nature trail and
environmental education facility, and atertiary sewage
treatment system.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
The Pilot has:
• Completed Phase I and II environmental assessments
of the former town dump parcel at the STIP site;
• Developed a Master Plan, comprehensive design
and operations standards, and zoning language.
Citizens reviewed and revised drafts of the Master
Plan for redevelopment at a community workshop
and Celebration of Progress in December 1995; and
• Facilitated the adoption by the Cape Charles Planning
Commission of a new STIP zone. The Cape
Charles Town Council subsequently rezoned land
into the new STIP zone, dedicated land for road
access, and approved subdivision of industrial park
land.
LEVERAGING OTHER ACTIVITIES
Experience with the Cape Charles Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities, including the following:
• The Cape Charles Town Council leased
approximately 25 acres of brownfields land to the
Industrial Development Authority (IDA) for use in
the STIP. Under this long-term lease, the IDA is
responsible forany necessary environmental cleanup
of this area, which includes 400 feet of harbor
frontage, the former town dump, and the main
entrance to the park.
The Joint IDA of Northampton County and its
Incorporated Towns, have adopted a "Declaration
of Covenants and Restrictions for the Port of Cape
Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial Park."
The covenants contain measurable, enforceable
environmental and social sustainability criteria with
performance incentive awards to occupant tenants
who exceed the minimum sustainability
requirements.
The Pilot cooperated with the President's Council
on Sustainable Development to host a national
workshop on eco-industrial parks in October 1996.
Hare Valley High School was converted into a
temporary solar panel manufacturing factory by
Solar Building Systems, Inc., which subsequently
hired 30 employees.
Six additional redevelopment jobs (four by Energy
Recovery, Inc., and two by Natural Habitat) and
one temporary cleanup job were created in the
STIP.
The Pilot leveraged $2.5 million in county bonds for
the construction of the 30,930- square-foot Energy
Recovery, Inc., building, which was completed in
March 1999.
The Pilot leveraged a $790,000 Rural Business
Enterprise grant from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the Economic Development
Administration, which will be used to establish
infrastructure in the STIP.
The Pilot leveraged a $798,000 grant from the
Department of the Interior to purchase landadjacent
to the park to extend the nature preserve already
incorporated within the Pilot target area.
The Pilot leveraged an award of $ 190,000 from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
to develop a coastal water quality program.
Occupancy of Building I of the STIP was anticipated
by September 1998.
Cape Charles was awarded an additional $200,000
as one of EPA's Brownfields Showcase
Communities finalists.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
December 2000
Cape Charles-Northampton County, VA
EPA 500-F-00-261
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