Brownfields 2011  Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Albion Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, Ml
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 Albion Brownfield Redevelopment Authority was
selected to receive a brownfields assessment grant.
Located in southern Michigan approximately halfway
between Lake Michigan and Detroit, the City of Albion
(population 9,104) began as an agrarian village but had
changed into a heavy manufacturing hub by World War
I. The city's neighborhoods evolved around industrial
facilities. By the 1980s, the heavy manufacturing
industry was in decline, and further downsizing and  the
decline of the automobile industry significantly
impacted the industrial employers remaining  in Albion.
The unemployment rate has tripled since 2000, and the
median household income is $30,245. The city is now
littered with abandoned industrial brownfields. Many
brownfields are located in the western half of the city in
low-income and minority communities. Brownfield
assessments will allow the city to identify the presence
and extent of contamination and are expected to
facilitate eventual site cleanup and reuse.
                  Assessment Grant

                  $200,000 for hazardous substances

                  EPA has selected the Albion Brownfield
                  Redevelopment Authority for a brownfields
                  assessment grant. Community-wide hazardous
                  substances grant funds will be used to conduct three
                  Phase I and two Phase II environmental site
                  assessments. Grant funds also will be used to
                  conduct community outreach activities, a
                  brownfields inventory, and 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 5 Brownfields Team
                  (312)886-7576
                  EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site
                  (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields)

                  Grant Recipient: Albion Brownfield Redevelopment
                  Authority,MI
                  (517)629-3926

                  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)
E PA 560-F-128-079
         May 11

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