&EPA
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-98-168
July 1998
Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Brockton, MA
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 200 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 Brockton for a
Brownfields Pilot. Brockton (population 92,788) is
located in southeastern Massachusetts, approximately
20 miles from Boston. The percentage of Brockton
families living in poverty is double the rate of surrounding
areas. Shoe- and bootmaking were once Brockton's
most important industries, but factory closings and the
movement of middle-income familiesto outlying areas
have left the once thriving downtown business district
in decline. During the last 10 years, Brockton has lost
approximately 4,200 jobs.
In 1996, the City designated an Economic Corridor
running north-south through the center of Brockton
along both sides of the Old Colony Railroad. The
corridor contains most of the City' s industrially zoned
land and is Brockton's last major resource for industrial
growth. Brownfields comprise about one-third of the
Economic Corridor. The State has designated the
area an Economic Opportunity Area, making economic
development incentives available to the City. Brockton
is targeting four sites within the Economic Corridor
for its Pilot. Three of the sites are former shoe
manufacturing facilities and a fourth site will be
selected during the Pilot project.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Brockton, Massachusetts
Date of Announcement:
July 1998
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
four sites in the City of
Brockton's Economic
Corridor, an area
containing most of the
City's industrial land and
abutting economically
disadvantaged
neighborhoods.
Contacts:
City of Brockton
(508)580-7113
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at:
http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/bmfld/
Forfurtherinformation, 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
Brockton plans to conduct the Pilot as an integral part
ofthe City's overall economic developmentplan. The
City plans to assess and clean up its brownfields,
establish strategic reuse plans, create new job
opportunities, and improve the quality of life in its
downtown. The Pilot will provide a model for this
process through the assessment of two sites, the
creation of cleanup and reuse plans for four sites, and
involvement ofthe community in reuse decisions.
The City will provide additional funding for the public
participation and cleanup planning portions of the
Pilot.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting site assessments;
• Developing cleanup and redevelopment plans for
four sites;
• Distributing information about the sites and
conducting workshops to encourage community
participation in cleanup and reuse decision making;
and
• Developing reuse plans for each ofthe four sites that
identify desirable end uses, appropriate cleanup
standards and methods, cleanup financing
mechanisms, and other sources of public and private
support.
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 Brockton, Massachusetts
July 1998 EPA500-F-98-168
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