United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Washington, D.C. 20460
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5101)
EPA 500-F-97-006
May 1997
National Brownfields
Assessment Pilot
Burlington, VT
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. Between 1995 and 1996, EPA funded 76 National and Regional Brownfields
Assessment Pilots, at up to $200,000 each, to support creative two-year explorations and demonstrations of brownfields
solutions. EPAis funding morethan 27 Pilots in 1997. 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 selected the City of Burlington for a Brownfields
Pilot. Burlington (population 39,127) is one of the
poorest cities in Vermont and recently received a
Federal Enterprise Community (EC) designation.
Seventeen polluted commercial and industrial sites
comprising about 40 acres within athree-mile radius
of downtown Burlington are creating amaj or obstacle
to growth and land use within the City. Only one
unpolluted site is available for development. The
largest brownfield is preventing highway construction
needed by private developers to connect the City with
the waterfront. Nine ofthe brownfield sites are located
in the EC community, and most are located in or
adjacent to disadvantaged neighborhoods.
OBJECTIVES
Burlington plans to develop a comprehensive
brownfields plan, redevelop the City's brownfields
with a high degree of citizen participation and support,
and provide a redevelopment model that could be
duplicated in small cities across the country. The
City is taking an integrated approach that incorporates
ecological zoning strategies, pollution prevention,
and sustainable development to encourage
environmentally friendly economic growth.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
Date of Award:
September 1996
Amount: $200,000
Site Profile: The Pilot
targets 40 acres of land
located within a 3-mile
radius of Burlington's
central business district.
Burlington, Vermont
Contacts:
Nick Warner
Community and Economic
Development Office
(802)865-7144
John Podgurski
U.S. EPA-Region 1
(617)573-9681
podgurski.john@
epamail.epa.gov
Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
http://www.epa.gov/brownfields
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AND
The Pilot has:
* Participated in a brownficlds workshop in November
1996 sponsored by U.S. Senator James Jeffords.
The Pilot is:
• Conducting public tours of brownfields properties
in the targeted site area;
* Compiling and disseminating information about the
Brownfields Pilot program, setting up outreach
programs, coordinating an advisory council, and
facilitating communication between the community
and local agencies;
* Engaging neighborhoods in the brownfields process
through newsletters, information packages, town
meetings, public forums, site visits, and technical
support/training for area residents, developers, and
employees affected by brownfields;
* Conducting site investigations to determine the level
of contamination in the targeted brownfields area;
and
* Planning to identify suitable uses for targeted
brownfields to attract viable businessesto reclaimed
site.
Experience with the Burlington Pilot has been a
catalyst for related activities including the following.
* Examining brownfields issues in the Riverside Eco-
Park, a 430-acre eco-industrial park. This park will
provide a model of sustainable development and
job creation for the region.
* Developing a model for the cleanup of brownfield
sites that can be used bv other small cities.
National Brownfields Assessment Pilot Burlington, Vermont
May 1997 EPA 500-F-97-006
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