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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.
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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/
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