United States
                       Environmental
                       Protection Agency
                       Washington, D.C. 20460
                         Solid Waste
                         and Emergency
                         Response (5101)
EPA500-F-97-119
April 1997
  &EPA
National   Brownfields
Assessment  Pilot
                             Perth Amboy,  NJ
  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.
OVERVIEW

EPA has  selected the City of Perth Amboy as a
Brownfields Pilot. With its close proximity to major
water and ground transportation routes, Perth Amboy
has served as the industrial and manufacturing hub of
central New Jersey for many years. The exodus of
industry, disinvestment, and ageneral suburbanization
of the region have resulted in many areas of vacant or
under-used industrial and commercial property, as
well  as many substandard buildings in need of
rehabilitation or demolition. Industrial decline in the
city also has resulted in socio-economic erosion, as
shown by a per capita income that is 138 percent
lowerthanthe state average. Since 1990, the assessed
value of portions of the targeted redevelopment area
fell by more than $3.8 million.

The pilot will be conducted on 877 acres of historically
heavy industrial property located in the northeast and
southwest sections of the city. Currently, 43 percent of
this acreage is vacant. Although rich in historical and
cultural heritage, the pilot area has been contaminated
through many years of industrial activity.  The pilot
area will complementthe city' s current redevelopment
plan, which includes aunique private/public partnership
called Focus 2000.  Integration of Focus 2000 with
Perth Amboy's Urban Enterprise Zone program and
the brownfields pilot will help  to provide additional
incentives for property development.
                         PILOT SNAPSHOT
                        Perth Amboy, New Jersey
  Date of Award:
  April 1997

  Amount: $200,000

  Site Profile: The focus of
  the pilot is approximately
  877 acres of heavy
  industrial and vacant land
  located in the northeast
  and southwest sections of
  Perth Amboy.
                        Contacts:

                        Melvin Ramos
                        City of Perth Am boy
                        (908) 826-0920
  Larry D'Andrea
  U.S. EPA-Region 2
  (212)637-4314
  dandrea.larry@
  epamail.epa.gov
                                Visit the EPA Brownfields Website at:
                                http://www.epa.gov/brownfields

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OBJECTIVES

Perth Amboy' s goal is to provide technical expertise,
public/private support, and vision to empower the
local community and private developers  in
remediation and revitalization of the redevelopment
area. The city aims to delineate contamination; plan
for the use of innovative technologies and site cleanup
protocols, improve public accessibility to brownfields
and  risk information,  and develop sustainable
insurance coverage programs.

ACTIVITIES

Activities planned as part of this pilot include:

• Conducting surveys, inventories, and assessments
 in  the  brownfields redevelopment area, and
 compiling related database information;

• Developing an insurance pool coverage program
 addressing  liability  exposure,  remediation cost
 overruns, and third party liability coverage;

• Conducting feasibility  studies for innovative
 technologies that may be used in site cleanups; and

• Developing a public participation  and risk
 communication plan with  support from  Rutgers
 University and  the New Jersey  Institute  of
 Technology.

The cooperative agreement for this Pilot has not yet been
negotiated;  therefore, activities described in  this fact
sheet are subject to change.
 National Brownfields Assessment Pilot                                            Perth Amboy, New Jersey
 April 1997                                                                       EPA500-F-97-119

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