•    Brownfields  2003 Assessment  Grant Fact Sheet
               Ellsworth, ME
EPA Brownfields Program

EPA's Brownfields Program empowers states.
communities, and other stakeholders to work together to
prevent, assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse
brownfields. A brownfield site is real property, the
expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be
complicated by the presence or potential presence of a
hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. On
January 11, 2002, President George W. Bush signed
into law the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act. Under the Brownfields
Law, EPA provides financial assistance to eligible
applicants through four competitive grant programs:
assessment grants, revolving loan fund grants, cleanup
grants, and job training grants. Additionally, funding
support is provided to state and tribal response
programs through a separate mechanism.

Community Description

The City of Ellsworth was selected to receive an
assessment grant. The city has targeted several sites in
the downtown Waterfront area along the Union River.
Ellsworth (population 6,500) was once a center of
shipbuilding and port activities. The city now has a
retail and service-based economy that relies largely on
summer tourism. The city's unemployment rate drops in
the summer but rises to about 9 percent during the
winter months. More than 38 percent of residents have
low to moderate incomes, and the city's median
household income is lower than state and nationwide
averages. The assessment of waterfront brownfields
will help the city attract investment in its downtown
area, curb increasing sprawl, and create more diverse
living-wage jobs for its residents. The City Council has
established the Ellsworth Waterfront Plan
Implementation Committee, which will involve the
community throughout this project.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances

                   EPA has selected the City of Ellsworth for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
                   used to conduct Phase I and Phase II assessments at
                   sites in the 22-acre downtown Waterfront area,
                   located along the Union River. Grant funds also will
                   be used to involve the community in setting priorities
                   for the city's brownfields redevelopment program.

                   Contacts

                   For further information, including specific grant
                   contacts, additional grant information, brownfields
                   news and events, and publications and links, visit
                   the EPA  Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/brownfields).

                   EPA Region 1 Brownfields Team
                   (617)918-1424
                   EPA Region 1 Brownfields Web site
                   (http: //www. epa.gov/region 1 /brownfields)

                   Grant Recipient: City of Ellsworth, ME
                   (207) 667-2563

                   The information presented in this fact sheet comes
                   from the  grant proposal; EPA cannot attest to the
                   accuracy of this information. The cooperative
                   agreement for the grant has not yet been negotiated.
                   Therefore, activities described  in this fact sheet are
                   subject to change.
  United States
  Environmental
  Protection Agency
  Washington, DC 20450
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 500-F-03-089
        Jun 03

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