&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA500-F-98-141
May 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Johnstown, PA
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. Since 1995, EPA has funded more than 150 Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of
brownfields solutions. 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.
BACKGROUND
EPA has selected the City of Johnstown for a
Brownfields Pilot. Johnstown, a city of 28,134 in
southwestern Pennsylvania, has an unemployment
rate of 14.2% and a poverty rate of 27%. At one time,
70% of the city' s blue-collar workers were employed
in the area's steel mills and coal mines. The closing
of Bethlehem Steel in 1992 resulted in the loss of
12,000 jobs. Abandoned and underutilized industrial
and manufacturing properties have contributed to the
environmental deterioration of the area. The mills
were built on some of the scarce flat land in the area's
mountainous terrain, making redevelopment of these
sites an important issue. Although the state has a
successful brownfields cleanup program, many
companies are still hesitant to participate due to
liability concerns.
Pennsylvania has designatedthe city as an Enterprise
Zone as well as a Distressed Community under the
state's Municipalities Recovery Act. The City of
Johnstown, the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority,
and Johnstown Area Regional Industries, Inc. have
formed a "Brownfields Renaissance" partnership
and prepared a Memorandum of Understanding to
produce a strategic cleanup and economic
development plan for growth into the next century.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Date of Announcement:
May 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot will
target selected abandoned
and underutilized
properties in order to
demonstrate its
comprehensive
Brownfields Evaluation
and Assessment Program.
Contacts:
Johnstown
Redevelopment Authority
City of Johnstown
(814)535-6564
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 3
(215)566-3129
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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The Pilot has identified the Cambria Iron Works
National Historic Landmark as apotential brownfields
site. The 12-acre former steel mill (the only one in
the nation with an historic designation) has three
buildings with reuse potential. Pilot funds will be
used to assess the property; the Pilot also plans to
work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
create an urban greenway walking trail on the site.
OBJECTIVES
The objective of Johnstown's brownfields program
is to initiate a comprehensive brownfields evaluation
and assessment program. The city will use the EPA
Pilot to develop partnerships between public and
private entities; identify sites most suited to
assessment, cleanup, and redevelopment; conduct
site assessments; and develop apian for environmental
cleanup and economic redevelopment.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Developing a long-term brownfields program that
fosters public and private partnerships to identify,
evaluate, and reuse brownfields;
• Gathering information to develop a database of
potential brownfields sites for redevelopment;
• Developing criteria for ranking identified sites,
with aparticular emphasis on nearby disadvantaged
populations;
• Exploring supplemental funding from
Pennsylvania's Industrial Site Reuse Program to
aid in site assessment and cleanup; and
• Conducting public relations, other outreach, and
education efforts, including town meetings, radio
talk shows, newsletters, and an Internet web site.
The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet
are subject to change.
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Johnstown, Pennsylvania
May 1998 EPA500-F-98-141
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