Brownfields 2011 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
Greater Portland Council of Governments, Cumberland County,
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. In
2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization Act was passed to help
states and communities around the country cleanup and
revitalize brownfields sites. Under this 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 Greater Portland Council of Governments was
selected to receive two brownfields assessment grants.
The Council is in southwest Maine and serves 25 of
Cumberland County's 28 municipalities (combined
population 265,000). The Council will target Portland
Harbor, Downtown Bridgton, Gray Village, and Steep
Falls Village in the Town of Standish (combined
population 12,319). These communities are the most
disadvantaged areas served by the Council and contain
154 of the county's 300 identified potential brownfield
sites. The target areas were once home to many
industries such as fisheries, a tannery, wood product
manufacturers, and railroad yards. Many of these
industries have since disappeared, leaving behind
potential environmental contamination and risks to
public health. In the target areas, poverty levels and
unemployment rates are higher than the county
averages. Brownfield assessments will help identify
potential health and environmental threats in the target
areas, and enable the Council to focus on
redevelopment efforts that will attract public and private
investments and create jobs.
Assessment Grants
$200,000 for hazardous substances
$200,000 for petroleum
EPA has selected the Greater Portland Council of
Governments for two brownfields assessment grants.
Community-wide hazardous substances grant funds
will be used to conduct five Phase I and four or five
Phase II environmental site assessments. Petroleum
grant funds will be used to conduct six Phase I and
four to six Phase II environmental site assessments.
Grant funds also will be used to inventory and rank
brownfields, and conduct cleanup planning.
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: Greater Portland Council of
Governments,ME
(207) 774-9891
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)
EPA560-F-128-013
May 11
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