&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-98-171 July 1998 Assessment Demonstration Pilot State of New Hampshire— Coastal Piscataqua River Watershed 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 Coastal Piscataqua River Watershed in New Hampshire for a Brownfields Pilot. Including the Towns of Dover, Durham, Exeter, Newmarket, Rochester and Somersworth, the watershed is located in southeastern coastal New Hampshire. The area is populated with small, mostly rural towns, and has been industrialized since the Revolutionary War. The New Hampshire seacoast area is experiencing growth-related pressures, primarily in the housing development markets. The existence ofbrownfields with a variety of contaminants in prime development locations is refocusing development interest towards remaining green spaces and coastal habitats. In addition, many brownfields are disproportionately located in low- to moderate- income neighborhoods. This leads to reduced property values and tax rates, loss of potential economic opportunities, deterioration and underuse of historic mill buildings, and threats to area drinking supplies. OBJECTIVES The New Hampshire Coastal Program plans to assist coastal municipalities that are actively trying to redevelop brownfields, but lack the resources to do so. It is expected that this strategy will minimize greenfields development and concurrently solve environmental problems, such as pressures on fragile PILOT SNAPSHOT State of New Hampshire- Coastal Piscataqua River Watershed Date of Announcement: July 1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will assist six small coastal municipalities along the Piscataqua River Watershed in their brownfields redevelopment efforts. Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 1 (617)573-9681 Contacts: Office of State Planning New Hampshire Coastal Program (603)271-2155 Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region01/remed/brnfld/ Forfurther 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/ ------- wetlands and estuaries. The Pilot will target six sites within the sixPiscataquaRivermunicipalities. These sites were selected because they are located in municipalities thathave significant potential to deflect development pressures away from greenfields; are known contaminated sites; and are historically developed sites that are presently underused or abandoned. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Conducting environmental assessments on up to six sites located in small coastal towns on the Piscataqua River Watershed; • Conducting studies of feasible cleanup technologies; and • Planning for site cleanup and redevelopment. 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 State of New Hampshire—Coastal Piscataqua River Watershed July 1998 EPA500-F-98-171 ------- |