Brownfields 2005 Assessment Grant Fact Sheet
East Palo Alto, CA
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 East Palo Alto was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. East Palo Alto
(population 29,506) is a low-income community in
California that is host to many environmentally
compromised facilities used to support the high
technology industry of Silicon Valley. The per capita
income of this mostly minority community is one-third
that of the county. The poverty and unemployment rates
are 16.2 and nine percent, respectively, and 71 percent
of adults over 25 did not graduate from high school.
Cooley's Landing, targeted for assessment, served as the
county dump for 25 years. It is adjacent to the 130-acre
mixed agricultural, industrial, and commercial
Ravenswood Industrial area, near auto wrecking yards,
and adjacent to an arsenic-contaminated former rail
spur right-of-way. Once this site is assessed, cleaned
up, and restored, Cooley's Landing will be opened to
the public as a passive recreational park with
interpretive historical displays. As part of the Pacific
Flyway, this marsh area provides food, shelter, and
habitat for a variety offish and wildlife and a crucial
winter refuge for migratory birds. Restoration of the
landing will create a sense of identity and pride for a
community that has been stigmatized for many years,
provide residents with direct access to San Francisco
Bay, create a link between two other nature preserves,
Assessment Grant
$200,000 for hazardous substances
EPA has selected the City of East Palo Alto for a
brownfields assessment grant. Grant funds will be
used to perform a Phase II environmental site
assessment, develop cleanup plans, and conduct a
community health monitoring program at Cooley's
Landing. An earlier assessment found scattered areas
of hazardous substances, including metals,
pesticides, and PCBs at the site. The property, once
a thriving port, was the county dump from 1932 to
1957.
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 9 Brownfields Team
(415) 972-3091
EPA Region 9 Brownfields Web site
(http://www.epa.gov/region9/brownfields)
Grant Recipient: City of East Palo Alto,CA
(650)853-3122
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-05-135
May 05
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and revitalize the adjacent industrial area.
United States _ ., . w__tp
Environmental \c EPA 560-F-05-135
_, and Emergency
Protection Agency ResoonsefSIOSn May 05
Washington, DC 20450 Kesponse
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