&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-98-176 July 1998 Assessment Demonstration Pilot Paterson, 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. 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 Paterson for a Brownfields Pilot. Paterson (population 148,400) is located in northeast New Jersey, approximately 10 miles from the Hudson River and New York City. As the first planned industrial city in the nation, some of the country's oldest brownfields are located here. Hazardous substances generated from many years of industrial activities have contaminated several properties and the City's aquifers. The State has identified over 70 contaminated sites in Paterson. The brownfields have contributed to blight and economic distress. With the assistance of the New Jersey Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the City has been able to take the first steps toward identifying and assessing its contaminated properties. Some progress has been made, including the redevelopment of the 7-acre Allied Textile Printers site into a 64-unit housing complex. OBJECTIVES Paterson aims to develop a community-based brownfields response model in the form of aguidance document to help steer the City in the planning and PILOT SNAPSHOT Paterson, New Jersey Date of Announcement: July 1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot will assess and develop cleanup and redevelopment plans for six large, abandoned brownfields located across the City. Contacts: City of Paterson (973)881-3365 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 2 (212)637-4314 Visit the EPA Region 2 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/r02earth/superfnd/brownfld/bfmainpg.htm For further information, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Browrrfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ ------- redevelopment of its brownfields. This will include characterizing milestones that impact brownfields such as environmental issues and land use. The Pilot will aid this effort through the creation of outreach activities that will include residents in cleanup and reuse decision making; assessment of the six target sites; and cleanup and redevelopment planning. The City will coordinate the Pilot public outreach program with its existing Consolidated Plan outreachprocess. The Pilot will evaluate the guidance document by applying the model to six brownfields in the City: Paterson Paperboard, Kaysam, Leader Dye, 69-83 Straight Street, 95 Cliff Street, and 62 Garfield Avenue sites. These sites were selected as target sites because they are in the City's Hazardous Site Remediation program, are over one acre in size, have not been productive for at least one year, and have not attracted interest from developers. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Developing a contaminated sites guidance document, which will incorporate key milestones affecting brownfields development; • Developing bilingual outreach activities to include public input on cleanup and future land-use decisions; and • Conducting site assessments at six targeted brownfields. 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 Paterson, New Jersey July 1998 EPA500-F-98-176 ------- |