United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response(5101)
EPA500-F-99-152
June 1999
www.epa.gov/brownfields/
SEPA
Brownfields Assessment
Demonstration Pilot
Tarrant County, 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. 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 brownfieldstofacilitatecleanupofbrownfieldssites and preparetrainees for future employmentintheenvironmental
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 has selected Tarrant County for a Brownfields
Pilot. The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area is known as
the "Metroplex" and is the eighth-largest metro area
in the country with 4.3 million people. This area was
historically the center of a large meatpacking and oil
drilling supply industry. The 1980s saw a 20 percent
increase in the county's population; however, the
subsequent suburban economic expansion bypassed
small communities such as Everman (population 5,872)
and Kennedale (population 5,605). As a result, the
flight to greenfields has left behind dilapidated and
abandoned buildings, inappropriate zoning and land
use patterns, stagnated growth and potentially
hazardous contamination.
The Pilot targets sites in two predominantly minority
neighborhoods within Everman and Kennedale that
are economically impacted by high unemployment
rates, high poverty rates and low incomes.
Identification and assessment of brownfields in these
areas are particularly important because of the
potential health and safety hazards associated with
ground water contamination from the targeted sites
transferring into nearby Chambers Creek, Village
Creek, and subsequently into Lake Arlington and the
Trinity River watershed. The lake is a recreational
PILOTSNAPSHOT
Tarrant County, Texas
Contacts:
County of Tarrant
Community Development
(817)338-9129
Date of Announcement:
June 1999
Amount: $200,000
Profile: The Pilot targets
two brownfields in the Cities
of Everman and Kennedale.
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
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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area, and also serves as the source of drinking water
for a half-million county residents.
OBJECTIVES
The Pilot's objective is to assist in the revitalization of
the Cities of Everman and Kennedale by conducting
environmental assessments, developing a cleanup
and redevelopment plan for the targeted sites, and
involving the community and stakeholders in the
cleanup and redevelopment process. In addition to
the Pilot activities, the county and these cities will
encourage brownfields redevelopment by creating
tax increment financing districts and by using innovative
financing to fund infrastructure improvements. The
county hopes the Pilot will provide a model for small
cities to identify brownfields and integrate community
representatives in the cleanup and redevelopment
process.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ANDACTIVITIES
Activities planned as part of this Pilot include:
• Conducting Phase I and Phase II assessments,
including a risk assessment, at the two targeted
sites;
• Designing a cleanup and redevelopment plan; and
• Developing and implementing a community outreach
program.
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 Tarrant County, Texas
June 1999 EPA500-F-99-152
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