u o Brownfields Assessment City of Holyoke, MA BACKGROUND EPA has selected the City of Holyoke for a Brownfields Assessment Pilot. The city also was selected to receive additional funding for assessments atbrownfields properties to be used for greenspace purposes. Holyoke (population 39,838) is a densely populated industrial city located in west central Massachusetts on the banks of the Connecticut River, a designated American Heritage River. The sites targeted forthis Pilot are located in or near predominantly minority and lower income neighborhoods. Twenty-three percent of the families in Holyoke live below the poverty level, as compared to the state figure of 6.7 percent. Median household income in the target area is $9,482, compared to the state average of $36,952. Approximately 82 percent of the population in the target area is Hispanic. For over 15 0 years, the city has relied upon the textile and paper industries to support its economic base. As with many old New England mill towns, these industries have left the downtown and riverfront areas with a legacy of abandoned or underused warehouses, factories, and processing plants. This Pilot targets four sites, including the Central Mass Machine facility, the former Xidex and Adams Packawood facilities, the American Electric Cable block, and lots within the Dwight/Beech Street area. The redevelopment or reuse of these brownfields as viable businesses or greenspace is crucial to the city's plans to draw and maintain industry and to improve the quality of life downtown. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the Pilot are to encourage the reuse of two important parcels as greenspace, encourage the redevelopment of two underused properties, eliminate potential health and safety issues, and improve the quality of life in the neighborhoods surrounding brownfields. The Pilot plans to accomplish this objective by fully assessing PILOT SNAPSHOT City of Holyoke, Massachusetts Date of Announcement: May 2002 Amount: $200,000 Greenspace: $50,000 Profile: The Pilot targets four industrial sites that are surrounded by predominantly minority, low-income neighbor- hoods in the city's downtown area. Contacts: City of Holyoke - Office of Economic and Industrial Development (413)534-2200 Regional Brownfields Team U.S. EPA Region 1 (617)918-1424 Visit the EPA Region 1 Brownfields web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region01/brownfields/ For furtherinformation, including specific Pilot contacts, additional Pilot information, brownfields news and events, and publications and links, visit the EPA Brownfields web site at: www.epa.gov/brownfields each of the parcels and determining the concentrations and distributions of contaminants of concern. Armed with this information, the Pilot also will determine the cleanup costs and the mechanisms to return these properties to productive use. ------- ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACTIVITIES Activities planned as part of this Pilot include: • Conducting Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments on each of the four identified sites; • Determining the cleanup costs and mechanisms for returning these properties to productive reuse; and • Involvingthe community inPilotactivitiesthrough public meetings and the development of informational fact sheets specifically focused on the targeted sites. The cooperative agreement forthis Pilot has not yet been negotiated; therefore, activities described in this fact sheet are subject to change. Solid Waste EPA 500-F-02-047 and Emergency May 2002 Response (5105) www.epa.gov/brownfields/ ------- |