&EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Solid Waste and Emergency Response (5101) EPA 500-F-98-205 July 1998 Assessment Demonstration Pilot Flint, Ml 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 Flint for a Brownfields Pilot. Traditionally, Flint's economic welfare has been tied to the prosperity of one company, General Motors (GM). GM is Flint's largest taxpayer. Due to automation and other changes in the industry, GM has cut its workforce by more than 40,000 since the late 1970s, with more cuts expected in the next few years. Neighborhoods, businesses, and industries within the community have suffered from GM's downsizing. More than 30% of Flint's population (140,761) lives below the poverty level. Several blocks in the central business district have been abandoned and boarded up. The City has been designated as a Federal Enterprise Community and a State Renaissance Zone. The City of Flint will be working collaboratively, as part of its Pilot project, with GM to plan for the redevelopment of underutilized industrial properties. This collaboration is an attempt to find a way to mitigate the devastating impacts of the closing of GM facilities in Flint. The cooperative agreement between the City and GM will provide an incentive for GM to address problems associated with the redevelopment of properties that would otherwise be warehoused. The Pilot award will be used in conjunction with the GM/Flint agreement to conduct a baseline environmental assessment of the Delphi West site, a PILOT SNAPSHOT Flint, Michigan Date of Announcement: July 1998 Amount: $200,000 Profile: The Pilot targets the 24-acre Delphi West site located along the Flint River for assessment and redevelopment. Contacts: Communityand Economic Development City of Flint (810)766-7426 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA-Region 5 (312)353-3161 Visit the EPA Region 5 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields/ 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/ ------- 24-acre former automotive industrial complex. The property is along the Flint River, and is surrounded by one of Flint's poorest neighborhoods. OBJECTIVES The objective of Flint's Brownfields Pilot is to create a strategy and process to redevelop unused industrial sites throughout the City to make them attractive for smaller businesses in order to diversify the local economy. The City plans to develop a database listing brownfields properties, and will support the development of a community-based brownfields redevelopment plan. ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Establishing a City brownfields plan; • Establishing a multi-disciplinary team to prepare a community-based brownfields redevelopment plan; • Creating a database of brownfields sites; and • Conducting abaseline environmental assessment at the Delphi West site. 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 Flint, Michigan July 1998 EPA500-F-98-205 ------- |