Brownfields 2009 Assessment Grant
               Fact Sheet
               Pulaski, VA
                                                        RECOUERY.GOV
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
February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed
into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The Recovery Act is an unprecedented effort to
jumpstart our economy, and create or save millions of
jobs. This law provided stimulus funds to the
Brownfields Program to award grants to evaluate and
clean up former industrial and commercial sites. Under
this law, EPA will provide financial assistance to
eligible applicants through four competitive grant
programs: assessment grants, revolving loan fund
grants, cleanup grants, and job training grants.

Community Description

The Town of Pulaski was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. The county seat of
Pulaski County, the Town of Pulaski (population 9,473)
is located in the scenic New River Valley in
southwestern Virginia. Pulaski was a late 19th century
manufacturing center noted for heavy industry and
manufacturing, primarily textiles and furniture. As
employers faced pressures from competition, these
industries closed, consolidated, or moved. The town
was left with about a dozen abandoned and deteriorated
sites that total almost 60 acres. Stormwater from these
sites poses threats to Peak Creek, a tributary  of the New
River that flows through town. While the population of
the Valley region has increased, the town's population
has declined. Over the last decade, 2,400 jobs were lost.
Most recently, an additional 1,000 jobs were cut at the
area's largest employer. The county unemployment rate
is twice the  state rate. Brownfield assessments are
expected to help identify sites that are viable properties
for recreation or greenspace, and help determine ways
to  support their reuse as commercial or residential
properties.
                   Assessment Grant
                   $200,000 for hazardous substances
                   (Recovery Act Funding)

                   EPA has selected the Town of Pulaski for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. Community-wide
                   hazardous substances grant funds will be used to
                   inventory brownfield sites and conduct eight Phase I
                   and four Phase II environmental site assessments in
                   the Historic Downtown Commercial District and the
                   Pulaski South Historical Residential and Industrial
                   District. Grant funds also will be used to conduct
                   cleanup planning and support community
                   involvement activities.

                   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 3 Brownfields Team
                   (215)814-3129
                   EPA Region 3 Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/bf-lr)

                   Grant Recipient: Town of Pulaski,VA
                   (540) 994-8616

                   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-09-133
        May 09

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