Brownfields  2003 Assessment  Grant Fact Sheet
               Babylon, NY
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 Town of Babylon was selected to receive a
brownfields assessment grant. Babylon (population
10,000) is located approximately 30 miles east of New
York City in the southwestern portion of Suffolk
County on Long Island. Within the town is the hamlet
of Wyandanch, a 4.4-square mile area that is one  of the
most economically depressed communities in the state
and the poorest community in Suffolk County. The two
poorest census tracts on all of Long Island are in
Wyandanch, where 20 percent of the residents live
below the poverty level and the average unemployment
rate is 10 percent. In addition, the community, which is
94 percent minority, has an alarmingly high incidence
of breast cancer and asthma. Wyandanch exemplifies
the link between poverty, economic hardship, and the
siting of hazardous waste sites. This grant will enable
Babylon to inventory, prioritize, and conduct
environmental site assessments on a number of sites in
Wyandanch where petroleum contamination is
suspected. Once these brownfields have been assessed,
the town can take additional steps to clean up and
redevelop these properties, thereby creating jobs and
eliminating potential human health threats.
                   Assessment Grant

                   $200,000 for petroleum

                   EPA has selected the Town of Babylon for a
                   brownfields assessment grant. The town intends to
                   use grant funds to inventory, prioritize, and assess
                   brownfields with suspected petroleum contamination
                   in the economically disadvantaged, predominantly
                   minority hamlet of Wyandanch. Grant funds also
                   will be used for community involvement and
                   outreach 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 2 Brownfields Team
                   (212) 637-4309
                   EPA Region 2 Brownfields Web site
                   (http://www.epa.gov/region02/brownfields/)

                   Grant Recipient: Town of Babylon, NY
                   (631)422-7640

                   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 500-F-03-049
        Jun 03

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