Brownfields 2010 Revolving Loan Fund Grant Fact Sheet ***лл* Grand Traverse County, 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 Grand Traverse County was selected to receive a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. Located along the shore of the Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan, Grand Traverse County (population 86,071) participated in the logging boom of the late 19th century and eventually in the area's industrial development. This history has left a legacy of contamination from a variety of operations, including a steel factory, coal gasification plant, and brining and canning plants. Through the mid-2Oth century, thousands of tons of pesticides were applied to former forest land converted to agricultural lands. The state has identified 124 hazardous substances sites and 137 petroleum sites in Grand Traverse County. The county has been seriously impacted by the recent economic downturn and has the highest foreclosure rate of any county in the area. Cleanups conducted through the RLF grant will reduce potential threats to human health and protect the natural resources in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed. Revolving Loan Fund Grant $200,000 for hazardous substances $800,000 for petroleum EPA has selected Grand Traverse County for a brownfields revolving loan fund grant. The grant will be used to capitalize a revolving loan fund from which Grand Traverse County will provide loans and subgrants to support cleanup activities for sites contaminated with hazardous substances and petroleum. Grant funds will be used to capitalize four to 10 loans each for cleanup of hazardous substances and petroleum sites. Subgrants will be used to address the four-corner area where there is contamination under the public right-of-way. Grant funds also will be used for 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 5 Brownfields Team (312)886-7576 EPA Region 5 Brownfields Web site (http://www.epa.gov/R5Brownfields) Grant Recipient: Grand Traverse County,MI (231)922-4780 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-10-179 Apr 10 ------- |