&EPA
                   United States
                   Environmental
                   Protection Agency
                   Washington, D.C. 20460
                           Solid Waste
                           and Emergency
                           Response (5101)
      EPA 500-F-98-219
      July 1998
                                 Assessment
Demonstration  Pilot
                                    Brownsville, TX
  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 Brownsville  for a
Brownfields Pilot. Brownsville (population 15,000) is
the  second-poorest city in Texas and one of the
poorest in the nation. The City has been identified as
one of the 25 worst places in the nation for children to
live. In 1990, 67% of all families in Brownsville
reported incomes belowthe poverty level. In addition,
11.5% of the population is unemployed, and between
2,000 and 3,000 people are homeless. Brownfields in
the  City have  resulted in the loss of  potential tax
revenues and job opportunities along with the ongoing
concern of potential environmental health risks.

The Buena Vida neighborhood is one of the most
distressed areas in the City. A  majority (66.7%) of
the 8,000 residents live in poverty. The neighborhood
has been designated by the  State as an Enterprise
Community and by the City  as a Neighborhood
Redevelopment Area. This area served as one of the
first business centers in Brownsville. A major part of
the area is being redeveloped with construction of a
Federal courthouse facility. The City hopes to use the
momentum of this project and the Pilot to address
other brownfields in the neighborhood, especially a
rail-switching yard. The rail yard is in close proximity
to several schools, a zoo, parks, and the downtown
business district and poses possible contamination
risks to the neighborhood and the environment.
                             PILOT SNAPSHOT
                                  Brownsville,
                                    Texas
  Date of Announcement:
  July 1998

  Amount: $200,000

  Profile: The Pilot targets
  brownfields in the Buena
  Vida neighborhood, a
  State-designated
  Enterprise Community and
  a City-designated
  Neighborhood
  Redevelopment Area.
                           Contacts:

                           Department of Planning
                           and Community
                           Development
                           CityofBrownsville
                           (956)548-6150
Regional Brownfields Team
U.S. EPA-Region 6
(214)665-6736
                                 Visit the EPA Region 6 Brownfields web site at:
                             http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/6sf/bfpages/sfbfhome.htm

                               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

Through the Pilot and other community-based City
efforts to re vitalize the BuenaVida neighborhood, the
City hopes to promote economic opportunity, self-
sufficiency, and sustainable community development.
The  City is  working on  other programs with the
community,  such as improving infrastructure and
providing  one-stop  social services, to address the
priority problems  of substance abuse,  high
unemployment, limited health care, homelessness,
and brownfields revitalization.  The Pilot will help
continue  the  City's  progress by working with
grassroots efforts to  identify and assess brownfields
in the area.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:

• Assisting in the development of a master plan forthe
 Buena Vida neighborhood by  conducting site
 assessments and identifying area brownfields;

• Conducting an outreach program for neighborhood
 stakeholders; and

• Developing cost estimates  for cleanup and
 redevelopment of the targeted area.

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                                             Brownsville, Texas
 July 1998                                                                       EPA500-F-98-219

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