•    Brownfields 2004 Assessment Grant  Fact Sheet
               Jackson, 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. 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 Jackson was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Jackson is less affluent,
more racially diverse, less educated, and younger than
surrounding communities in Jackson County. Once a
thriving center for automobile manufacturing, Jackson's
plants have all closed since the economic downturn in
the late 1970s. The vast majority of Jackson's heavy
industries were located along the Grand River in the
city core, now adjacent and within predominantly
low-income residential neighborhoods. Jackson's
population of 36,316 suffers from a 19.6 percent
poverty rate, and among the  10,473 people living in the
affected community, the poverty rate  is 32.1 percent.
Minorities comprise 26.1 percent of the population.
Jackson's population has declined steadily over the past
70 years, and as of late 2003, 232 parcels within the
city remain in forfeiture.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for hazardous substances
                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the City of Jackson for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Hazardous substances
                   and petroleum funds will be used to conduct an
                   area-wide assessment and inventory of 120
                   potentially contaminated former industrial properties
                   along the Grand River in the Central Business
                   District, and Arts and Cultural District. Jackson will
                   also conduct Phase I and Phase II environmental site
                   assessments on selected properties to characterize
                   the level and extent of contamination. Once
                   inventories are completed, Jackson will seek cleanup
                   funding from the state.

                   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: City of Jackson, Michigan
                   (517)768-6433

                   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 560-F-04-065
        Jun 04

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